Information, Communication & Society

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The influence of social media use on attitude

toward suicide through psychological well-being,
social isolation, and social support

Doo-Hun Choi & Ghee-Young Noh

To cite this article: Doo-Hun Choi & Ghee-Young Noh (2020) The influence of social media use
on attitude toward suicide through psychological well-being, social isolation, and social support,
Information, Communication & Society, 23:10, 1427-1443, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1574860

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1574860

Published online: 17 Feb 2019.

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INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY
2020, VOL. 23, NO. 10, 1427–1443
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1574860

The influence of social media use on attitude toward suicide

through psychological well-being, social isolation, and social
support
Doo-Hun Choia and Ghee-Young Nohb
a
Department of Media and Communication, Sejong University in Seoul, Seoul, South Korea; bSchool of Media
Communication, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Analyzing national online panel survey data in South Korea, this Received 30 March 2018
study explored how social media use is associated with attitude Accepted 18 January 2019
toward suicide. Furthermore, we examined the mediating paths
KEYWORDS
by which social media use is associated with the formation of Social media; attitude toward
one’s attitude toward suicide mediated by psychological well- suicide; psychological well-
being, social support, and social isolation. The study found that being; social support; and
psychological well-being and social isolation mediated the social isolation
relationship between social media use and attitude toward
suicide. Social media use was positively associated with
psychological well-being and negatively associated with social
isolation. A higher level of psychological well-being was related to
negative attitude toward suicide, whereas a higher level of social
isolation was associated with positive attitude toward suicide. This
study provides an understanding of the impact of social media
use on attitude toward suicide and implications for suicide-
prevention strategy using social media.

Over the last decades, suicide has become one of the major causes of death (WHO, 2017).
Approximately, 800,000 people worldwide end their lives by suicide every year (WHO,
2017). For example, in the United States, the overall suicide rate has continued to rise
by 24% from 10.5 in 1999–13.0 in 2014 per 100,000 individuals (CDC, 2015). In particular,
suicide in South Korea is a serious national public health and social problem, showing the
highest suicide rate among developed countries (WHO, 2017). Suicide negatively affects
individuals, family members, and society (CDC, 2015). However, more importantly, scho-
lars and experts in the area of public health suggest that suicide is preventable (WHO,
2014). Understanding people’s attitudes toward suicide may help develop suicide-preven-
tion programs (Kim & Park, 2014) because attitude toward suicide is known to lead to
suicide or suicidal behavior (Zou et al., 2016).
Recently, since an increasing number of people use social media as a new communi-
cation channel (Choi & Shin, 2017; Smith & Anderson, 2018), it is likely that social
media use may be related to forming people’s attitudes toward suicide. Social media can
play a role in promoting social interaction among people via online interpersonal networks

CONTACT Ghee-Young Noh gnoh@hallym.ac.kr School of Media Communication, Hallym University, 1 Hallym-
daehak-gil, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, South Korea
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
1428 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

(Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Social media use is closely associated with individuals’
psychological status, such as psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation
(Chen & Li, 2017; Seo, Kim, & Yang, 2016; Whaite, Shensa, Sidani, Colditz, & Primack,
2018), which, in turn, may be related to their attitude toward suicide. Specifically, interac-
tive communication using social media can improve interpersonal relationships, which
may be positively associated with psychological well-being (Chen & Li, 2017). Since social
media easily enable the exchange of emotional and informational resources among users
(Deng & Liu, 2017), the media use may be positively related to social support. Social
media also contribute to increasing a sense of connectedness through online social net-
works (Ahn & Shin, 2013), which may be negatively associated with social isolation. More-
over, subjective well-being makes people perceive that their lives are positive (Diener &
Chan, 2011), which may be associated with negative attitudes toward suicide. Since social
support facilitates one’s positive affective states (Oommen, 2014), it may be associated with
negative attitudes toward suicide. Social isolation makes people experience a lack of social
connectedness (Acosta, Hagan, & Joiner, 2017), which may be related to positive attitudes
toward suicide. Thus, social media are expected to have an impact on attitude toward
suicide mediated by psychological well-being, social support and isolation.
In this regard, this study examines how social media use is associated with attitude
toward suicide. Specifically, based on national online survey data of South Koreans, the
study analyzes the mediating relationships by which social media use is related to ones’
attitude toward suicide through psychological well-being, social support, and social iso-
lation. Figure 1 shows the relationships among the constructs suggested in the study. Little
prior research has empirically tested the relationship between social media use and
people’s attitudes toward suicide among the general population. This study will provide
a better understanding of how social media use is associated with attitude toward suicide
and suggest practical implications for developing effective suicide-prevention programs in
the new media environment.

Social media, psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation

New media technologies tend to facilitate more interactive communication than tra-
ditional media, such as television and newspapers (Choi & Shin, 2017). In particular, social

Figure 1. Proposed research model.

 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1429

media play a large role in promoting communication among users with the feature of
interactivity (Kim & Kim, 2017). Through enhanced interpersonal communication, social
media also help establish interpersonal relationships, such as making new friends or
strengthening existing ones (Choi & Shin, 2017).
Interpersonal relationships and their interactions via social media have the potential to
influence the formation of individuals’ psychological outcomes (e.g., Seo, Kim, & Yang,
2016). More specifically, prior research has suggested that social media use is associated
with one’s psychological well-being (Apaolaza, Hartmann, Medina, Barrutia, & Echebar-
ria, 2013). Psychological well-being refers to one’s subjective evaluation of his or her life as
a whole in a positive or negative way (Diener, Lucas, & Oishi, 2002). In particular, it often
indicates people’s mental health status, including satisfaction with life and pleasant feel-
ings regarding their lives (Maddux, 2017). Thus, psychological well-being is an important
factor that influences people’s mental health (Chen, Gong, Kosinski, Stillwell, & Davidson,
2017).
As interpersonal relationships are positively associated with individuals’ psychological
well-being (Maddux, 2017; Ryff, 1989), using social media to communicate with other
people can also affect psychological well-being. Social media provides an interactive tool
for establishing or maintaining social relations through online social networks (Choi &
Shin, 2017). Moreover, interactive communication with other users in social media can
enhance users’ emotional status, which may be related to their quality of life (Liu, Tov,
Kosinski, Stillwell, & Qiu, 2015). A recent study revealed that communication use in social
media played a large role in promoting one’s psychological well-being (Chen & Li, 2017).
In this regard, we expect a positive relationship between social media use and psychologi-
cal well-being as follows:
H1: Social media use is positively associated with psychological well-being.

This study also suggests that social media use has the potential to facilitate social support
(Carr, Wohn, & Hayes, 2016). Social support refers to an exchange or supply of psycho-
logical resources provided by significant others in an individual’s social network (Cohen &
Syme, 1985; Thoits, 1995). People tend to want to be supported and reassured by other
people (Seo et al., 2016). Common forms of social support include emotional assistance
(expression of care, concern, and empathy) and informational assistance (information
or advice) (Zhao & Basnyat, 2018). Social support serves as an important factor influen-
cing people’s mental health outcomes (Oommen, 2014).
Moreover, given that social support is a communication process through social
relationships, social media use may foster social support (Yen, 2016). Social media
easily enable people to send and receive personalized messages to other people in
their online social networks (Carr et al., 2016). Furthermore, social media readily
make users continuously aware of each other’s daily social activities in their online
social ties, which can present greater opportunities to receive social support (Shensa,
Sidani, Lin, Bowman, & Primack, 2016). Thus, social media users are able to obtain
more social support through interactive communication, including emotional assist-
ance and informational assistance (Deng & Liu, 2017). Previous research has found
that social media use is positively associated with social support (Pornsakulvanich,
2017). Thus, this study posits the following second hypothesis about the relationship
between social media use and social support:
1430 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

H2: Social media use is positively associated with social support.

Since social media is linked to social relationships, the new media use may also influence
social isolation (Ahn & Shin, 2013). Social isolation refers to a deficit of personal relation-
ships or being excluded from social networks (Williams, 2007). That is, social isolation
indicates one’s subjective feeling (or perception) of being disconnected from society or
other people (Chang, Sanna, Hirsch, & Jeglic, 2010). Social isolation occurs when individ-
uals perceive that they will not get the desired benefits or sense of belonging that other
people can provide (Gustafsson, Marklund, Aronsson, Wikman, & Floderus, 2015). Indi-
viduals who experience social isolation tend to have low quality interpersonal relationships
owing to a lack of contact with other people or participation in social activities (Schinka,
Van Dulmen, Bossarte, & Swahn, 2012).
Previous studies have shown that social media use can help decrease social isolation
(e.g., Ahn & Shin, 2013; Lou, Yan, Nickerson, & McMorris, 2012). Social media offer
increased opportunities for new personal interactions and having more diverse online net-
works (Hampton, Sessions, & Her, 2011). In particular, the interactive use of social media,
such as communicating or socializing with other users, has been found to reduce social
isolation (Yang, 2016). The enhanced interpersonal connectivity achieved through using
images and videos on social media helps users experience intimacy, which can attenuate
social isolation (Pittman & Reich, 2016). Moreover, as social media allow users to stay con-
nected online continuously, they produce social presence (Pittman & Reich, 2016), which
may diminish social isolation (Sinclair & Grieve, 2017). Given this perspective, we propose
the following hypothesis:
H3: Social media use is negatively associated with social isolation.

Psychological well-being, social support, social isolation, and suicide attitude

As discussed above, this study suggested that social media use will be related to psycho-
logical well-being, social support and social isolation. However, a question remains regard-
ing the consequences of psychological well-being, social support and social isolation for
public health. The literature on the influence of psychological well-being, social support,
and social isolation indicates that those factors influence people’s mental health. In this
regard, this study examines how psychological well-being, social support, and social iso-
lation are associated with attitude toward suicide.
Attitude toward suicide represents the extent to which people accept or endorse suicide
(Stack, 1996). It also indicates people’s understanding of and empathy for those who die by
suicide or exhibit suicidal behavior (Zou et al., 2016). In particular, prior research has
shown the usefulness of exploring people’s attitudes toward suicide for understanding
suicide or suicidal behavior (Foo, Alwi, Ismail, Ibrahim, & Osman, 2014). According to
the theories of planned behavior and reasoned action, in general, attitude can affect behav-
ior across various contexts (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2005). In health contexts, for example, atti-
tude toward drinking was found to be largely associated with drinking or drinking
behavior (Norman, Conner, & Stride, 2012; Simons & Gaher, 2004). Specifically, attitude
toward suicide may cause suicide or suicidal behavior in two ways (Zou et al., 2016). First,
a positive attitude toward suicide can play a role in accelerating suicidal behavior (Gunnell,
Harbord, Singleton, Jenkins, & Lewis, 2004). Second, a negative attitude toward suicide
 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1431

can cause people to find help (Downs & Eisenberg, 2012). Indeed, empirical studies have
revealed that people who have a favorable attitude toward suicide are more likely to engage
in suicidal behaviors and thoughts (e.g., Foo et al., 2014; Joe, Romer, & Jamieson, 2007;
Zemaitiene & Zaborskis, 2005). Public attitudes toward suicide tend to reflect the social
climate pertaining to suicide in a population (Kim & Park, 2014). Thus, exploring individ-
uals’ attitudes toward suicide is useful for understanding suicide behavior and developing
suicide-prevention programs.
Previous studies have largely focused on attitude toward suicide influenced by socio-
demographic variables, such as levels of education and income, religion, and marital status
(Zou et al., 2016). Additionally, many studies have investigated attitudes toward suicide
among specific population groups, such as nurses, pharmacists, and social workers (Botega
et al., 2005; Kodaka, Inagaki, & Yamada, 2013; Kodaka, Inagaki, Poštuvan, & Yamada,
2013). To expand the literature on attitude toward suicide, this study attempts to explore
the impact of psychological factors on attitude toward suicide among the general
population.
Psychological states are significantly associated with suicidal behaviors, and many
suicides and suicide attempters are influenced by mental or psychological conditions (Koi-
vumaa-Honkanen, Honkanen, Koskenvuo, & Kaprio, 2003). One particular psychological
factor is subjective well-being, which refers to an individual’s cognitive and affective evalu-
ation of his or her life (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2011). People with greater subjective well-
being tend to be more social and active and experience better physical health than those
with lower subjective well-being (Maddux, 2017). People feel that their lives are going well
or badly based on self-assessment, and their subjective evaluation can influence their sub-
sequent attitudes or behaviors (Diener & Chan, 2011). For example, when an individual
negatively evaluates his or her quality of life, he or she may engage in suicidal behaviors
(e.g., Bray & Gunnell, 2006). In this regard, it is also likely that individuals with a higher
level of subjective well-being have an unfavorable attitude toward suicide, which means
they may not accept suicide. Thus, subjective well-being would be negatively associated
with a favorable attitude toward suicide. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:
H4: Higher subjective well-being is associated with more negative attitudes toward suicide.

Social support is another psychological factor that plays a part in influencing suicide (e.g.,
King & Merchant, 2008). When individuals perceive social support from other people or
society, they are more likely to be esteemed and valued themselves (Carr et al., 2016).
Thus, social support helps promote positive affective states, which in turn contribute to
reducing mental health problems (Oommen, 2014), such as suicidal behaviors. A recent
study found that social support decreased suicidal thoughts (Lamis, Ballard, May, &
Dvorak, 2016). Thus, social support can play a protective role in the risk of suicide. It is
also likely that social support influences the formation of attitude toward suicide. Individ-
uals who perceive a higher level of social support may have an unfavorable attitude toward
suicide. Therefore, this study puts forth the following hypothesis:
H5: Greater social support is associated with more negative attitudes toward suicide.

The risk of suicide is also linked to social isolation (Joiner, 2005). As Durkheim (1897/
1951) found in his research on suicide, social isolation is an important factor in suicidality.
Prior research has identified social isolation as a major factor influencing mental health
1432 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

(Cornwell & Waite, 2009). Individuals seek to experience a sense of belonging in social
relationships (Kim, Wang, & Oh, 2016); however, some people sometimes experience a
lack of social connectedness (Acosta et al., 2017). Individuals who are socially isolated
from family, friends, acquaintances, or society also tend to have poor interpersonal
relationships that do not match their personal expectations (Schinka et al., 2012). This
negative response can be linked to negative mental health outcomes, increasing the risk
of suicidal behaviors (Lasgaard, Goossens, & Elklit, 2011). In this regard, social isolation
is likely to positively relate to a favorable attitude toward suicide. People who feel social
isolation would have a more favorable attitude toward suicide, showing an acceptance
of suicide. Thus, the study posits the following hypothesis:
H6: Greater social isolation is associated with more positive attitudes toward suicide.

Indirect relationship: psychological well-being, social support, and social

isolation as mediators
In addition to the direct relationships suggested above (i.e., the research hypotheses), this
study also examines the mediating effects by which social media use is associated with atti-
tude toward suicide mediated by psychological well-being, social support, and social iso-
lation. Previous literature has concentrated on the direct effect of social media use on
psychological well-being, social support, and isolation as well as the direct impact of
psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation on suicide. Little is known
about the mediating role of psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation
derived from social media use in shaping one’s attitude toward suicide among the general
population. In this regard, this study fills the gaps in the literature by examining how
psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation mediates the influence of
social media use on one’s attitude toward suicide. Investigating the mediating effects
will contribute to an understanding of the impact of social media use on attitude formation
toward suicide through the mediating relationships of psychological factors.
As discussed above, social media use can be associated with psychological well-being,
social support, and social isolation, which may be consequently related to the formation
of attitude toward suicide. In this study, we argue that psychological well-being, social sup-
port, and social isolation will mediate the relationship between social media use and atti-
tude toward suicide, and thus formulate the following research question:
RQ1: How do psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation mediate the
relationship between social media use and attitude toward suicide?

Method
Data
This study’s data were collected from a national online panel survey of South Korean
adults reflecting nationally representative demographics, including age, gender, and area
of residence, relying on a proportionate quota sampling. The survey was conducted
over the course of a week from October 27 to November 3, 2017, by a leading research
company in South Korea. The 10,441 online panel members who were randomly chosen
 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1433

Table 1. Summary of demographic statistics (N = 1500).

Frequency Percentage
Age (years)
19–24 134 8.9
25–34 298 19.9
35–44 354 23.6
45–64 654 43.6
65 or more 60 4.0
Gender
Male 761 50.7
Female 739 49.3
Education
Middle school or less 27 1.8
High school 374 24.9
College degree 955 63.7
Graduate degree 144 9.6
Income (KRW)
Less than 1,990,000 (|USD 1990) 496 33.1
2,000,000–2,990,000 (|USD 2000 – |USD 2,990) 378 25.2
3,000,000–3,990,000 (USD 3000 – USD 3,990) 285 19.0
4,000,000–4,990,000 (USD 4000 – USD 4,990) 153 10.2
5,000,000 or more (USD 5000) 188 12.5

from the entire pool owned by the research company were invited by e-mail to participate
in the study. Among them, 2861 people answered to the survey invitation email, and a
total of 1500 respondents finished the survey, producing a completion rate of 52.4%.
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hallym University (IRB
no. HIRB-2017-116). Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the sample.

Measures
Dependent variable
Attitude toward suicide was measured using a 5-point scale (1 = ‘do not agree at all,’ 5
= ‘agree very much’) by asking the respondents about the extent to which they agree
with the following four statements: ‘I believe that death by suicide is not a big problem
when it comes to things that are extremely painful and hard to cope with,’ ‘I do not
think that death by suicide is a bad choice if it happens to be extremely painful and
hard to deal with,’ ‘I think that there is nothing wrong with death by suicide in the
event of being extremely difficult and stressful,’ and ‘I can understand death by suicide
in the event of extreme difficulty and suffering.’ Responses to these items were averaged
to create an overall index of attitude toward suicide (Cronbach’s alpha = .94, M = 1.89,
SD = 1.01,). These statements were adopted and modified from earlier research (e.g.,
Lee & Choi, 2011).

Social media use

To assess social media use, we first asked respondents whether they use social media (e.g.,
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Kakaotalk). Among respondents who use social media
(n = 1447),1 this study also asked using a 5-point scale (1 = ‘never,’ 5 = ‘very often’) on the
frequency with which they engage in the following social media activities: ‘contacting or
interacting with family and friends,’ ‘contacting or interacting with other people who
have similar interests,’ and ‘contacting or interacting with other people who have new
1434 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

and various perspectives.’ These items were averaged to make an index of social media use
(Cronbach’s alpha = .71, M = 3.36, SD = .82).

Psychological well-being
Psychological well-being was measured using a 5-point scale item (1 = ‘strongly disagree,’ 5
= ‘strongly agree’) by asking the respondents about the extent to which they agree with the
following statements: ‘I think I live the life I want,’ ‘I have a healthy mind,’ and ‘My life is
active and motivated.’ These three items were averaged to form an index of psychological
well-being (Cronbach’s alpha = .82, M = 3.16, SD = .78). These items were adopted and
modified from previous research (e.g., Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985).

Social support
Social support was measured using a 5-point scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree,’ 5 = ‘strongly
agree’) by asking the respondents about the extent to which they agree with the following
statements: ‘I have someone with whom I can speak freely about what is important to me,’
‘I have someone who can help me when I am in need,’ ‘I have someone who is affectionate
to me,’ ‘I have someone who can share my sadness or joy,’ and ‘I have someone to ask for
advice when I make an important decision.’ Responses to these five items were also aver-
aged to construct an index of social support (Cronbach’s alpha = .93, M = 3.61, SD = .73).
These statements were adopted and modified from previous research (e.g., Oommen,
2014).

Social isolation
Social isolation was measured by three 5-point scale items (1 = ‘strongly disagree,’ 5
= ‘strongly agree’) asking the extent to which respondents agree with the following state-
ments: ‘I do not have anyone to play with,’ ‘I feel alone from people,’ and ‘I have no one I
can trust.’ The responses were averaged to make an index of social isolation (reverse coded,
Cronbach’s alpha = .90, M = 3.64, SD = .92), indicating that higher scores represent less
social isolation and lower scores indicate greater social isolation. These statements were
adopted and modified from prior research (e.g., Schinka et al., 2012).

Control variables
To control for effects that could potentially affect the relationships of social media use,
psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation on attitude toward suicide,
this study included a number of demographic variables in the analysis: age (M = 43.42,
SD = 13.10), gender (49.3% female), education (median = college degree), and monthly
income (median = between |KRW 2,000,000 – |KRW 2,990,000; approximately |USD
2000–|USD 2990).

Analysis
In order to examine the hypotheses and research questions proposed in this study, we
employed the SPSS PROCESS Macro (Model 4; Hayes, 2012). The PROCESS Macro
enables to examine direct effects and estimate the significance of indirect effects with
mediators; this is a more effective method than the Sobel Test and the Baron and
Kenny test (Hayes, 2012; Preacher & Hayes, 2008). In particular, for assessing indirect
 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1435

effects, the bias-corrected bootstrap approach was used with 5000 bootstrap samples,
yielding more accurate confidence intervals (Hayes & Preacher, 2014).

Results
Path model: direct effects
The results for the direct relationships among social media use, psychological well-being,
social support, social isolation, and attitude toward suicide are presented in Figure 2. After
controlling for age, gender, education, and income, this study found that social media use
was positively associated with psychological well-being (b = .11, SE = .02, p < .001). Thus,
H1 was supported. H2, claiming that social media use positively relates to social support,
was also supported (b = .15, SE = .02, p < .001). In support of H3, the study also found that
social media use was significantly associated with decrease in social isolation (b = .13, SE
= .03, p < .001).
The study predicted that psychological well-being, social support, and social isolation
were associated with attitude toward suicide. Supporting H4, we found that psychological
well-being was negatively related to a favorable attitude toward suicide (b = −.28, SE = .04,
p < .001). However, there was no significant direct relationship between social support and
attitude toward suicide. Thus, H5 was not supported. The results also showed that a lower
level of social isolation was significantly related to negative attitudes toward suicide (b =
−.36, SE = .03, p < .001). Thus, H6 was supported by this finding.

Mediating model: indirect effects

In response to RQ1, this study suggested an indirect effects mechanism by which social
media use is associated with attitude toward suicide through psychological well-being,
social support, and social isolation. The results for indirect effects via the three mediating
paths and the total effects of social media use on attitude toward suicide are presented in
Table 2. We found there was a significant indirect effect between social media use and atti-
tude toward suicide through psychological well-being (b = −.03, SE = .01, 95% CI = −0.05

Figure 2. Mediation analysis and path coefficients.

1436 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

Table 2. Bootstrapping results of indirect effects.

Path coefficient (SE) CI
Total effect of IV on DV −.02(.03)
IV to mediators
Well-being .11(.02)*
Social support .15(.02)*
Social isolation .13(.03)*
Direct effects of mediators on DV
Well-being −.28(.04)*
Social support .01(.04)
Social isolation −.36(.03)*
Direct effect of IV on DV 06(.03)
Indirect effects of IV on DV
Well-being −.03(.01)* −0.05 to −0.02
Social support .00(.01) −0.01–0.01
Social isolation −.05(.01)* −0.07 to −0.02
Total −.07(.02)* −0.11 to −0.04
Note: IV is independent variable; DV is dependent variable; CIs are bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals for the indirect
effects (Bootstrap N = 5,000); *indicates significant effects.

to −0.02). However, there was no significant indirect effect of social support on the relation-
ship between social media use and attitude toward suicide. Finally, this study found that
there was a significant indirect effect between social media use and attitude toward suicide
through social isolation (b = −.05, SE = .01, 95% CI = −0.07 to −0.02).

Discussion
Analyzing national online panel survey data of South Korean adults, this study examined
the impact of social media use on psychological well-being, social support, and social iso-
lation as well as the effects of psychological well-being, social support and social isolation
on attitude toward suicide. Furthermore, we explored how psychological well-being, social
support, and social isolation play a role in mediating the relationship between social media
use and attitude toward suicide. This study produced important findings regarding the
ways in which social media use is associated with attitude formation toward suicide
through psychological factors. Overall, social media use exerted indirect effects on one’s
attitude toward suicide mediated through psychological well-being and social isolation.
The findings of this study are expected to advance our understanding of the influence
of social media on attitude toward suicide, providing practical implications for suicide-
prevention strategy design using social media.
Specifically, consistent with the findings of previous studies (e.g., Apaolaza et al., 2013;
Chen & Li, 2017), we found that social media use was positively related to psychological
well-being. This result suggests that people who use social media more frequently for com-
municating with other users are more likely to have a greater level of psychological well-
being. Moreover, the study found a significant negative association between psychological
well-being and attitudes towards suicide. Individuals who have a higher level of psycho-
logical well-being are more likely to have an unfavorable attitude toward suicide. Since
using social media to interact with other users in convenient and economical ways,
such as video, images, texts and calls, helps to strengthen online personal relationships
(Chen & Li, 2017), it can improve one’s psychological well-being, which in turn may
help in the formation of an unfavorable attitude toward suicide.
 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1437

We also found that social media use had a direct relationship with social support. This
finding indicates that those who use social media more often to communicate with others
are more likely to perceive a higher level of social support. This is in line with previous
research that has shown a positive relationship between social media and social support
(Pornsakulvanich, 2017; Quan-Haase, Mo, & Wellman, 2017). Social media users easily
provide and receive social support through their online networks, such as commenting
on other users’ posts, sharing them, or clicking ‘like’ buttons. This technical assistance
helps signal attention and care to their connected members in a reciprocal manner, gen-
erating positive social-relational consequences (Seo et al., 2016).
Another noteworthy finding is that social media use was negatively associated with
social isolation. Consistent with previous literature that has shown a negative relationship
between social media and social isolation (e.g., Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Tolan, & Mar-
rington, 2013; Sinclair & Grieve, 2017), this result suggests that individuals who use social
media more often to interact with other users are more likely to have a lower level of social
isolation. Furthermore, the study also demonstrated that a lower level of social isolation
had a negative relationship with attitude toward suicide. Social media offer communi-
cation tools for establishing or maintaining social connections, and using social media
to communicate with other users strengthens a feeling of belonging to online social net-
works (Apaolaza et al., 2013), which is negatively related to the perception of social iso-
lation, contributing to the formation of unfavorable attitudes toward suicide.
Overall, this study showed that social media use was significantly related to forming
people’s attitudes toward suicide through two mediating paths. This finding could extend
the scope of the current literature regarding the impact of social media on suicide. Prior
research has largely focused on testing how social media use is directly related to psycho-
logical well-being, social support, and social isolation as well as how psychological well-
being, social support, and social isolation are directly associated with suicide. In this
regard, this study contributes to our understanding of the mediating mechanism by
which social media use is associated with attitude toward suicide through psychological
well-being and social isolation. The findings of this study shed light on the impact of social
media use, revealing that people who communicate frequently with other users tend to
positively promote their psychological status, which in turn helps shape a negative attitude
toward suicide.

Limitations and suggestions for future research

Before concluding, it is essential to address some limitations of this study for future
research. First, this study employed a cross-sectional survey to investigate the relationships
among the variables. This indicates that the findings of our analysis should be interpreted
with caution about inferences of the causal associations between social media use and atti-
tude toward suicide. Even though social media use was related to attitude toward suicide,
this finding cannot build temporal order as well as represent that social media use always
precedes attitude toward suicide. Nevertheless, the proposed hypotheses and the
mediation analysis in this study were grounded in previous findings and literature.
Second, this study did not measure individuals’ direct suicide behaviors, such as suicide
attempts or suicide thoughts. Future research may need to examine how social media use
is associated with people’s suicide behaviors. Third, this study examined the role of social
1438 D.-H. CHOI AND G.-Y. NOH

media use for communicating with other users on attitude formation toward suicide.
There are many functions and technological features of social media, such as gaming
and communities. Thus, future research should explore how diverse social media activities
are related to attitude formation toward suicide.
Fourth, it is possible that the sample in this study would be biased since respondents
who were especially interested in mental health or suicide may have completed the survey.
This suggests that the participants who volunteered to join the survey might have differed
from those who did not participate. However, it is known that web-panel surveys generally
generate higher representativeness, lower non-response errors, and higher response qual-
ity, as opposed to other survey modes, such as mail surveys and telephone surveys (Lozar,
Bosnjak, Berzelak, Haas, & Vehovar, 2008; Yeager et al., 2011). Moreover, we conducted a
large, national survey, which helps minimize the bias (e.g., Omura et al., 2018). Neverthe-
less, future research needs to consider using randomly recruited online panels employing
probability-based and address-based sampling methods to reach more representative
respondents from the entire population.
Fifth, some variables in this study used a small number of items to measure each con-
struct. However, we included measurement items adopted from previous studies for each
variable, producing high levels of internal consistency. Nevertheless, future research
should include more items for each variable to reduce measurement errors and reliability
issues.
Sixth, in future research, it is important to explore the impact of social norms, such as
descriptive norms (i.e., what behaviors other people perform) and injunctive norms (i.e.,
what behaviors are typically acceptable) (Rimal & Real, 2003) in determining attitudes
toward suicide. Social networks can contribute to encouraging the adoption and continu-
ance of positive or negative behaviors (or attitudes) (Rimal, 2008) by learning how other
people think or feel about an issue, such as suicide. Moreover, since social norms are
spread through communication among group members, social media may facilitate the
influence of social norms through a sense of social connectedness with other users in
forming attitudes toward an issue (Wombacher, Reno, & Veil, 2017), such as suicide.
Finally, future research should analyze suicide-related content produced by social
media users, such as postings, comments, images, and videos. For example, exploring
the ways individuals use social media to talk about or share their suicide-related feelings,
thoughts, or experiences could be an important research topic. Social media data would be
also very useful sources for measuring public moods or sentiments regarding suicide-
related behaviors or attitudes at the aggregate level (Won et al., 2013). Such work can
help advance our understanding of the relationship between social media use and suicide.

Conclusion
With the above considerations in mind, this study showed that social media use is associ-
ated with attitude toward suicide. Furthermore, the study revealed the mediating mechan-
ism by which social media use is related to attitude formation toward suicide mediated by
psychological well-being and social isolation. As one’s attitude toward suicide could
induce suicide or suicide behavior (Zou et al., 2016), the findings of this study suggest
that social media use can play an important role in reducing the risk of suicide among
the general population, providing practical implications for suicide-prevention strategies
 INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY 1439

using social media. As our findings showed the relationship between social media use and
attitude toward suicide, public health practitioners should utilize social media to promote
communication and online connectivity among users who have an unfavorable attitude
toward suicide, especially for those who experience social isolation. When designing
suicide-prevention interventions using social media as a protective tool, it is important
to help users experience a sense of belonging with their online social networks or provide
online environments where they socialize with other users by enhancing communication
and interaction.
Despite the widespread use of social media, little research has explored how social
media use is associated with attitude toward suicide. Our study contributes to a further
understanding of the effect of social media on forming attitudes toward suicide mediated
through psychological status. We believe that this study provides valuable insights for
developing discussions about the role of social media in influencing suicide in society
and designing suicide-prevention strategies that utilize social media.

Note
1. Appendix 1 provides a table that compares demographic statistics between the participant
group (N = 1500) and just the social media user group (n = 1447).

Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
This material is based on work supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and
the National Research Foundation of Korea [grant number NRF-2018S1A3A2074932].

Notes on contributors
Doo-Hun Choi is an assistant professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Sejong
University in Seoul, South Korea. His research focuses on the role that new media play in society
[email: choidoohun1@gmail.com].
Ghee-Young Noh is a professor in the School of Media Communication at Hallym University in
Chuncheon, South Korea. His research interests include digital media and content and human–
computer interactions [email: gnoh@hallym.ac.kr].

ORCID
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Appendix

Table A1. Demographic statistics of the participant group and just the social media user group.
Participants (N = 1500) Just social media users (n = 1447)
Age (years)
19–24 134 (8.9) 132 (9.1)
25–34 298 (19.9) 289 (20.0)
35–44 354 (23.6) 343 (23.7)
45–64 654 (43.6) 628 (43.4)
65 or more 60 (4.0) 55 (3.8)
Gender
Male 761 (50.7) 730 (50.4)
Female 739 (49.3) 717 (49.6)
Education
Middle school or less 27 (1.8) 25 (1.7)
High school 374 (24.9) 357 (24.7)
College degree 955 (63.7) 925 (63.9)
Graduate degree 144 (9.6) 140 (9.7)
Income (KRW)
Less than 1,990,000 (USD 1990) 496 (33.1) 473 (32.7)
2,000,000–2,990,000 (USD 2000 – |USD 2990) 378 (25.2) 363 (25.1)
3,000,000–3,990,000 (USD 3000 – USD 3,990) 285 (19.0) 277 (19.1)
4,000,000–4,990,000 (USD 4000 – USD 4990) 153 (10.2) 150 (10.4)
5,000,000 or more (USD 5000) 188 (12.5) 184 (12.7)
Note: Frequency and percentage in parenthesis.