Citation

Sumner SA, Bowen DA, Bartholow B. Crisis 2019; ePub(ePub): 1-5.

Affiliation

Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910/a000598

PMID

31066310

Abstract

Background: The dissemination of positive messages about mental health is a key goal of organizations and individuals. Aims: Our aim was to examine factors that predict increased dissemination of such messages. Method: We analyzed 10,998 positive messages authored on Twitter and studied factors associated with messages that are shared (re-tweeted) using logistic regression. Characteristics of the account, message, linguistic style, sentiment, and topic were examined. Results: Less than one third of positive messages (31.7%) were shared at least once. In adjusted models, accounts that posted a greater number of messages were less likely to have any single message shared. Messages about military-related topics were 60% more likely to be shared (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.6, 95% CI [1.1, 2.1]) as well as messages containing achievement-related keywords (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.3, 1.9]). Conversely, positive messages explicitly addressing eating/food, appearance, and sad affective states were less likely to be shared. Multiple other message characteristics influenced sharing. Limitations: Only messages on a single platform and over a focused period of time were analyzed. Conclusion: A knowledge of factors affecting dissemination of positive mental health messages may aid organizations and individuals seeking to promote such messages online.

Keywords: social media, positive messaging, depression, suicide, Twitter

Language: en

Keywords

Twitter; depression; positive messaging; social media; suicide