Youth mental health studies often left social media recruitment details unclear
A mapping review examined how researchers used social media to recruit young people into studies of digital self-help, revealing gaps in reporting recruitment methods.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Social media was used in some studies of digital self-help for young people's mental health, but reporting often lacked practical details. This review maps recruitment methods rather than establishing that social media recruits more successfully than alternatives. It also does not determine whether the mental health interventions themselves were effective.
The review describes what published studies reported. Missing information about posting schedules, account types, or advertisement text limits reproducibility and should not be mistaken for evidence that researchers did not use those features.
What researchers found
Reported social media recruitment
Descriptive count among studies identified through searches covering 2019–2024; no experimental comparator was used.
What researchers disclosed
Facebook and Instagram were the most commonly named platforms. Some studies reported posting schedules, account types, or advertisement wording, but these details were not consistently available across the studies using social media.
Why recruitment reporting matters
Clear accounts of platform choice, message content, posting frequency, and account type make recruitment methods easier to understand and reproduce. The authors also suggest involving young people when designing recruitment strategies.
The original publication
How have contemporary research studies used social media to recruit to digital self-help intervention research for young people's mental health?: a mapping review.
Dallison S, Munir S, Chubb E et al.
BMC Med Res Methodol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40877795
- Record checked
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