Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background:

Individuals often search the Internet for information about their medical conditions, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a common mental health disorder.

Aims:

To describe the content of the most popular videos on YouTube™ related to GAD.

Methods:

Videos with at least 50,000 views in October 2016 were coded for information regarding symptoms, treatments and causes for GAD. Associations of content with factors such as popularity and focus on a personal experience were examined.

Results:

The search returned 95 videos, which had been collectively viewed 37,044,555 times. Most (65%) were uploaded by consumers and 56% were about a personal experience. The most common symptoms mentioned were worry or panic (72%) and social anxiety (46%). Many videos (63%) mentioned at least one treatment, but only 26% mentioned any cause of anxiety. Videos that focused on a personal experience were significantly less likely to mention other phobias (p = .036), panic disorder (p = .033) and sleep issues (p = .016).

Conclusion:

The majority of the most popular videos on YouTube™ related to GAD were produced by consumers. Improved understanding about what information is available and popular online can assist mental health professionals in aiding their patients and in producing media that is likely to be viewed.

Keywords

Anxiety anxiety disorders Internet

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baxter

A. J.

Scott

K. M.

Vos

Whiteford

H. A.

(2013). Global prevalence of anxiety disorders: A systematic review and meta-regression. Psychological Medicine, 43, 897–910.

Burgess

Green

(2009). YouTube: Online video and participatory culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Cha

Kwak

Rodriguez

Ahn

Y.-Y.

Moon

(2007, October 24–26). I tube, you tube, everybody tubes: Analyzing the world’s largest user generated content video system. Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCOMM conference on Internet measurement, San Diego, CA.

Fergie

Hunt

Hilton

(2013). What young people want from health-related online resources: A focus group study. Journal of Youth Studies, 16, 579–596.

Fergie

Hunt

Hilton

(2016). Social media as a space for support: Young adults’ perspectives on producing and consuming user-generated content about diabetes and mental health. Social Science & Medicine, 170, 46–54.

Jones

L. M.

Veinot

T. C. E.

Pressler

S. J.

Seng

J. S.

McCall

A. M.

Fernandez

Coleman-Burns

P. W.

(2014). Internet Health Information Seeking (IHIS). Western Journal of Nursing Research, 36, 1376–1377.

Kessler

R. C.

Petukhova

Sampson

N. A.

Zaslavsky

A. M.

Wittchen

H.-U.

(2012). Twelve-month and lifetime prevalence and lifetime morbid risk of anxiety and mood disorders in the United States. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 21, 169–184.

Klin

Lemish

(2008). Mental disorders stigma in the media: Review of studies on production, content, and influences. Journal of Health Communication, 13, 434–449.

McGinty

E. E.

Kennedy-Hendricks

Choksy

Barry

C. L.

(2016). Trends in news media coverage of mental illness in the United States: 1995–2014. Health Affairs (Project Hope), 35, 1121–1129.

10.

National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. (2011). How to evaluate health information on the Internet: Questions and answers. Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/Health_Information/How_To_Evaluate_Health_Information_on_the_Internet_Questions_and_Answers.aspx

11.

Parcesepe

A. M.

Cabassa

L. J.

(2013). Public stigma of mental illness in the United States: A systematic literature review. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 40, 384–399.

12.

Seckin

(2013). Satisfaction with health status among cyber patients: Testing a mediation model of electronic coping support. Behaviour & Information Technology, 32, 91–101.

13.

US Department of Health and Human Services NIoH, National Institute of Mental Health. (2016). Anxiety disorders. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

14.

Welbourne

D. J.

Grant

W. J.

(2016). Science communication on YouTube: Factors that affect channel and video popularity. Public Understanding of Science, 25, 706–718.

15.

Whitley

Berry

(2013). Trends in newspaper coverage of mental illness in Canada: 2005–2010. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 107–112.

Portrayal of generalized anxiety disorder in YouTube™ videos

Abstract

Background:

Aims:

Methods:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References