Mental health risk factors depicted in posts of Lithuanian influencers on social networks in 2024

Abstract Background Studies show that depiction of high living standards, sexuality, bullying, aesthetic procedures on social networks might act as a risk factor to mental health. We aimed to assess the prevalence of mental health risk factors in posts published by Lithuanian influencers on Facebook and Instagram. Material and methods All publicly available posts (6008) created by 18 most popular Lithuanian influencers on Facebook and Instagram in 2024 were included. The distribution of the posts depicting luxury, sexuality, aesthetic procedures and bullying was compared between the social networks and groups of influencers of different gender, age and the number of followers. Results A half (44.4%) of the posts depicted at least one of the mental health risk factors: luxury (19.9%), sexuality (9.3%), aesthetic procedures (23.1%), bullying (3.8%). Men, younger influencers and influencers with a lower number of followers more frequently depicted luxury (respectively, 22.5% vs. 17.6%, 34.5% vs. 10.6%, 25.4% vs. 14.7%). Females and younger influencers more frequently depicted sexuality (respectively, 12.1% vs. 6.0%, 14.2% vs. 6.2%). Females, younger influencers and influencers with higher number of followers more frequently depicted aesthetic procedures (respectively, 34.9% vs. 9.2%, 39.2% vs. 12.8%, 28.7% vs. 17.0%). Men, older influencers and influencers lower number of followers more frequently depicted bullying (respectively, 5.4% vs. 2.5%, 4.7% vs. 2.4%, 4.7% vs. 3.0%) (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions Every second post of Lithuanian influencers depicted at least one of the mental health risk factors - aesthetic procedures, luxury, sexuality, or bullying. Inequalities in their prevalence with respect to social and demographic factors were observed. Key messages • Every second post of Lithuanian influencers depicted at least one of the mental health risk factor. • Despite many inequalities in the depiction of mental health risk factors, younger influencers more frequently depict body cult related content while older influencers – bullying.