On June 28-29, the SMAHRT will hold its 2016 conference on SocialMedia@Work. There’s a long list of speakers coming to the conference, many of whom are dedicated to research on how social media affects adolescent health. Among these speakers is Dr. Scottye Cash, an Associate Professor of Social Work at Ohio State University, who specializes in two areas of research: mental health and social media among adolescents and child welfare. Most recently, Dr. Cash traveled to Australia, where she was introduced to different approaches to mental health literacy and how to improve interventions for those dealing with depression and suicide. Australia has more initiatives on mental health literacy to promote help seeking for those with anxiety, depression, and suicide. Australia uses a wide range of methods to promote mental health support and literacy. Some of their methods include social media campaigns, billboards, posters at bus stops, signs on sides of trams and buses, and posters in restrooms. The United States, however, hasn’t capitalized on similar methods to disperse information. Upon her return from down under, Dr. Cash is working with organizations in Australia to determine how we can bring Australia’s best approaches and interventions to the United States and tailor interventions to the needs of Americans.
Dr. Cash is also continuing her research, along with Erin Klumb and Dr. Megan Moreno, on how adolescents use Facebook to talk about their feelings of depression and suicide and how their friends subsequently react to those posts. Some of the results have been less than comforting, with friends commenting “stop being sad” and “cheer up.” Dr. Cash is passionate about helping adolescents be open to talk about these sometimes taboo subjects and support others in a constructive way. “People with depression are not just people who cannot be happy,” Dr. Cash said, “there is so much people don’t know about mental health how to address it. I want to be a part of changing that dialogue!”
Dr. Cash is passionate about her work with adolescents because “of all the development and angst that adolescents have because of the social pressures and big life decisions they are constantly faced with,”. As she progressed through her career, Dr. Cash started researching the ways in which social media and adolescents correlate because of the ways in which social media became the new platform for adolescents to interact and react with all matter of topics, including depression and suicide. Since research shows that adolescents use social media to talk about personal issues, Dr. Cash is researching ways to get Facebook (e.g., the Facebook advertising side bar) to use their vast influence and social media presence to help educate individuals on depression and other mental health issues.
To learn more about Dr. Cash’s work with adolescent mental health on social media, or other social media professionals that deal with adolescents, register for the 2016 SMAHRT Conference today. Dr. Cash and numerous other researchers and community leaders will ensure that attendees walk away ready to connect, engage, educate and promote positive youth development.