JAMA Psychiatry

About The Study: In this study, depressive psychopathology was associated with a greater tendency to be reinforced by a type of social reward on Twitter, in contrast to typical laboratory-based findings of blunted reinforcement learning in depression. These findings suggest potential mechanisms linking social media use to worse mental health or vice versa, and emphasize the importance of studying real-world behavior. 

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Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Dan-Mircea Mirea, PhD, email dmirea@princeton.edu.

(10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.1430)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Citations

Mirea D, Chen S, Ding J, et al. The Reinforcement Effect of Social Media Likes in Depression. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online July 08, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.1430

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SOURCE: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2851586?guestAccessKey=7884e28f-537e-4885-922a-a7d110aad531&utm_source=for_the_media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=070826