Mental Wellbeing Effects of Disclosing Life Events on Social Media

Mental Wellbeing Effects of Disclosing Life Events on Social Media | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Mental Wellbeing Effects of Disclosing Life Events on Social Media Koustuv Saha, Dong Whi Yoo, Vedant Das Swain, Munmun De Choudhury This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5961870/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 3 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Life events are noteworthy moments that we often share on social media. However, how these disclosures impact our mental wellbeing is largely unknown. This study examines the effects of these disclosures using data from 236 participants. Regression models reveal that individual differences and event attributes significantly influence wellbeing. Through a quasi-experimental design, we find that sharing life events online positively impacts wellbeing by increasing positive affect and sleep quality while reducing negative affect, stress, and anxiety. Notably, disclosing negative events shows the strongest improvement in wellbeing, suggesting a protective effect of social media. Additionally, life event disclosures elicit more reactions and comments than other Facebook posts, with negative events receiving more comments but fewer reactions than non-negative life event disclosures. These findings offer insights into the complex relationship between online disclosures and wellbeing, contributing to theoretical understanding and practical strategies for enhancing online experiences and supporting mental health. Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computer science Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour life events mental health wellbeing self-disclosure social media Facebook Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Accepted 13 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 12 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5961870","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":470839935,"identity":"e8b9b65a-c334-4bdd-9ebc-65ecf107c14e","order_by":0,"name":"Koustuv Saha","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCQYGNgaGChsePnbGBgYGA5BYAjFazqTxsDGTpIWx7TADGzNcjIAWyf7Dzx78YDsvw8bM3PbgQ0EdAz97jgFeLdISaeaGPTy3QQ5rN5xhcJhBsucNfi1yEgxmEjwSYC1t0jwGBxgMbhCwRY7/+DfJPwbnYFrqGOwJaZFmyDGT5kk4ANPCzGAgQUCL5IycMmmZA8lgLZJAv/BInHlWgFeLxPnj2yTf/rOz52dvfybx4U+dHH978ga8WjAAD2nKR8EoGAWjYBRgBQBWLTf//5UTXwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Koustuv","middleName":"","lastName":"Saha","suffix":""},{"id":470839936,"identity":"761b1d60-79a4-4971-b7c0-a954dffdb1c8","order_by":1,"name":"Dong Whi Yoo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dong","middleName":"Whi","lastName":"Yoo","suffix":""},{"id":470839937,"identity":"b976f32c-ec17-431b-a54b-b47689d94968","order_by":2,"name":"Vedant Das Swain","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vedant","middleName":"Das","lastName":"Swain","suffix":""},{"id":470839938,"identity":"c0ceed59-80ff-47a7-a296-446f5c064d6e","order_by":3,"name":"Munmun De Choudhury","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Munmun","middleName":"","lastName":"De Choudhury","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-05 03:23:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5961870/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5961870/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07295-w","type":"published","date":"2025-07-02T15:58:53+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":86179646,"identity":"5a3eb5ec-588b-40f2-a6b1-f1d18aeecae6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-07 16:18:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":430513,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LifeEventsMentalHealthNatureSciRepClean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5961870/v1_covered_7a9e7f4c-f177-4653-93a2-10a8922a5662.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Mental Wellbeing Effects of Disclosing Life Events on Social Media","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"life events, mental health, wellbeing, self-disclosure, social media, Facebook","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5961870/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5961870/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Life events are noteworthy moments that we often share on social media. 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