The Impact Of Public Attention To Social Media Depression Information On Supportive Behavior

As a common mental disease,depression has a global impact of up to 280 million people,especially in the context of the COVID-19,the number of patients with depression has surged again by 70 million.In China,the population of depression is also large,but what is more worrying is the low rate of treatment,with only 0.5%of patients receiving adequate treatment.Although the government has taken a series of measures,the current situation is still not optimistic.One of the reasons behind it is the stigmatization of depression.Therefore,for depression groups,seeking medical advice is inevitable,and creating an inclusive social environment is equally important.As a window for the public to obtain,reveal and exchange information,social media plays an increasingly important role in shaping cognition and influencing behavior.Examining its impact mechanism on the public is conducive to putting forward targeted measures and reducing stigma.Based on this,this study adopts the Cognitive Mediation Model as the basic framework,introduces emotional variables,and focuses on the supportive behavior of the public.It discusses the impact of knowledge and emotion on supportive behavior in the context of social media depression information attention.The study finds that:In general,the public’s attention to depression information in social media will affect the public’s interpersonal support and policy support behavior for patients with depression.Elaboration,as an intermediary factor,plays an important role in it.It not only changes the public’s stereotyped perception of patients with depression,but also reduces negative emotions and increases sympathy for patients with depression.Specifically,in terms of interpersonal support,after receiving depression information on social media,the public will deepen their subjective understanding of the disease in the way of elaboration,reduce negative emotions towards the group,and promote inclusive understanding.In terms of policy support,only the promotion of sympathy after elaboration will have an effect,while subjective and objective knowledge and negative emotions have no effect on this behavior.This study provides a reference for reducing the social stigma of depression and improving the cure rate of depression patients.In view of the prominent role of sympathy in the whole chain,if we want to minimize the stigma of depression and improve supportive behavior,mobilizing public sympathy is the top priority in the production and dissemination of depression information in social media.In addition,it is worth noting that the focus of depression information on social media has not significantly affected the accumulation of objective knowledge of the public through elaboration,indicating that the effectiveness of using social media to popularize depression knowledge among the public needs to be further verified.