According to the study published in Nature Human Behaviour, the relationship between mental health and web-browsing is causal and bi-directional.
Self-guided browsing of negative content online is associated with poorer mental health and continued browsing of negative content. Study results “show that browsing negatively valenced content not only mirrors a person’s mood but can also actively worsen it. This creates a feedback loop that can perpetuate mental health challenges over time.”
Browsing and Mood Symptoms
Approximately 1,000 study participants shared their web browsing history with the researchers and answered questions about their mental health. Using natural language processing methods, the researchers analyzed the emotional tone of the webpages participants visited. Interestingly, perticipants rather than taking a break from negative or depressing content, the study found that participants with worse moods and mental health symptoms were inclined to browse more negative content online, and after browsing, those who browsed more negative content felt worse.
In another study, the researchers manipulated the websites people visited, exposing some participants to negative content and others to neutral content. They found that those exposed to negative websites reported worse moods afterward, demonstrating a causal effect of browsing negative content on mood. Afterwards, when these participants were then asked to browse the internet freely, those who had previously viewed negative websites—and consequently experienced a worse mood—chose to view more negative content.
This finding highlights that the relationship is bi-directional: negative content affects mood, and a worsened mood drives the consumption of more negative content.
Previous research on browsing focused on screen time or quantity of use which let to mixd conclusions. To evaluate if an intervention could change participants web-browsing choices, researchers conducted a further study.
Can an intervention help?
To evaluate if a break in the “negative browsing /negative mood” loop might change things, researchers added content labels to the results of a Google search, which informed participants whether each search result would likely improve their mood, make it worse, or have no impact. Results showed that participants were then more likely to choose the positively-labeled sites deemed likely to improve their mood—and when asked about their mood afterward, those who had looked at the positive websites were indeed in better moods than other participants.
Researchers developed helpful software
In response to the results of their intervention, the researchers have developed a free browser plug-in that adds labels to Google search results, providing three different ratings of how practical a website’s content is, how informative it is, and how it impacts mood.
Co-author Professor Tali Sharot said, “We are accustomed to seeing content labels on our groceries, providing nutritional information such as sugar, calories, protein, and vitamins to help us make informed decisions about what we eat. A similar approach could be applied to the content we consume online, empowering people to make healthier choices online.”
Source:
Kelly, C.A., Sharot, T. Web-browsing patterns reflect and shape mood and mental health. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02065-6