TY - JOUR
T1 - Social media recruitment for mental health research
T2 - A systematic review
AU - Sanchez, Catherine
AU - Grzenda, Adrienne
AU - Varias, Andrea
AU - Widge, Alik S.
AU - Carpenter, Linda L.
AU - McDonald, William M.
AU - Nemeroff, Charles B.
AU - Kalin, Ned H.
AU - Martin, Glenn
AU - Tohen, Mauricio
AU - Filippou-Frye, Maria
AU - Ramsey, Drew
AU - Linos, Eleni
AU - Mangurian, Christina
AU - Rodriguez, Carolyn I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Background: Social media holds exciting promise for advancing mental health research recruitment, however, the extent and efficacy to which these platforms are currently in use are underexplored. Objective: A systematic review was conducted to characterize the current use and efficacy of social media in recruiting participants for mental health research. Method: A literature review was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO. Only non-duplicative manuscripts written in the English language and published between 1/1/2004–3/31/2019 were selected for further screening. Data extracted included study type and design, participant inclusion criteria, social media platform, advertising strategy, final recruited sample size, recruitment location, year, monetary incentives, comparison to other recruitment methods if performed, and final cost per participant. Results: A total of 176 unique studies that used social media for mental health research recruitment were reviewed. The majority of studies were cross-sectional (62.5%) in design and recruited adults. Facebook was overwhelmingly the recruitment platform of choice (92.6%), with the use of paid advertisements being the predominant strategy (60.8%). Of the reviewed studies, substance abuse (43.8%) and mood disorders (15.3%) were the primary subjects of investigation. In 68.3% of studies, social media recruitment performed as well as or better than traditional recruitment methods in the number and cost of final enrolled participants. The majority of studies used Facebook for recruitment at a median cost per final recruited study participant of $19.47. In 55.6% of the studies, social media recruitment was the more cost-effective recruitment method when compared to traditional methods (e.g., referrals, mailing). Conclusion: Social media appears to be an effective and economical recruitment tool for mental health research. The platform raises methodological and privacy concerns not covered in current research regulations that warrant additional consideration.
AB - Background: Social media holds exciting promise for advancing mental health research recruitment, however, the extent and efficacy to which these platforms are currently in use are underexplored. Objective: A systematic review was conducted to characterize the current use and efficacy of social media in recruiting participants for mental health research. Method: A literature review was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO. Only non-duplicative manuscripts written in the English language and published between 1/1/2004–3/31/2019 were selected for further screening. Data extracted included study type and design, participant inclusion criteria, social media platform, advertising strategy, final recruited sample size, recruitment location, year, monetary incentives, comparison to other recruitment methods if performed, and final cost per participant. Results: A total of 176 unique studies that used social media for mental health research recruitment were reviewed. The majority of studies were cross-sectional (62.5%) in design and recruited adults. Facebook was overwhelmingly the recruitment platform of choice (92.6%), with the use of paid advertisements being the predominant strategy (60.8%). Of the reviewed studies, substance abuse (43.8%) and mood disorders (15.3%) were the primary subjects of investigation. In 68.3% of studies, social media recruitment performed as well as or better than traditional recruitment methods in the number and cost of final enrolled participants. The majority of studies used Facebook for recruitment at a median cost per final recruited study participant of $19.47. In 55.6% of the studies, social media recruitment was the more cost-effective recruitment method when compared to traditional methods (e.g., referrals, mailing). Conclusion: Social media appears to be an effective and economical recruitment tool for mental health research. The platform raises methodological and privacy concerns not covered in current research regulations that warrant additional consideration.
KW - Recruitment
KW - Research
KW - Social media
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U2 - 10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152197
DO - 10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152197
M3 - Article
C2 - 32992073
AN - SCOPUS:85091636414
SN - 0010-440X
VL - 103
JO - Comprehensive Psychiatry
JF - Comprehensive Psychiatry
M1 - 152197
ER -