A new study from University College London (UCL) has revealed a significant connection between poor mental health and the tendency to browse negative content online, a behavior that may further exacerbate mental health symptoms. The research, funded by Wellcome and published in Nature Human Behaviour, indicates that the relationship between mental health and online browsing is both causal and bi-directional.
The study’s co-lead author, Professor Tali Sharot, affiliated with UCL’s Psychology & Language Sciences, the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explained, “Our 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.”
To better understand this dynamic, the researchers surveyed over 1,000 participants about their mental health and analyzed their web browsing histories. Using natural language processing techniques, they assessed the emotional tone of the web pages visited. The findings revealed that participants experiencing poorer mental health were more likely to engage with negative content online, and those who browsed such content reported feeling worse afterward.
In a follow-up experiment, the researchers manipulated the types of websites participants visited, exposing some to negative content while others viewed neutral material. Results showed that those who encountered negative websites reported a decline in mood, confirming a causal effect of browsing negative content. Notably, when allowed to browse freely afterward, participants who had previously viewed negative sites gravitated toward more negative content, illustrating the bi-directional nature of this relationship: negative content impacts mood, which in turn drives the consumption of additional negative content.
PhD student Christopher Kelly, also a co-lead author, emphasized the study’s contribution to the ongoing discourse on the interplay between mental health and online behavior. “While much research has focused on the quantity of internet use—like screen time or social media frequency—often with mixed results, our study highlights the importance of the type of content consumed and its emotional tone, which is causally linked to mental health and mood.”
To explore potential interventions, the researchers conducted another study in which they introduced content labels to Google search results. These labels indicated whether a search result was likely to improve, worsen, or have no impact on the user’s mood. Participants who engaged with positively labeled sites reported better moods afterward compared to those who did not.
In light of these findings, the researchers have developed a free browser plug-in that adds labels to Google search results, providing users with three ratings: the practicality of the content, its informativeness, and its potential impact on mood. This tool aims to empower users to make healthier online choices and mitigate the effects of negative content on their mental health.
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A Study Found A Link Between Poor Mental Health And Browsing Negative Online Content
