Social media support groups could foster mental health self-efficacy

The growing use of social media has profoundly transformed the way people seek support for their mental health, particularly through online peer support groups. Although the literature shows that such groups can promote the psychological well-being of their members, the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. This quasi-experimental study examines whether social identification (the importance attributed to a group) plays a mediating role between group salience (being aware that one is a member of the group) and mental health self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to effectively manage one’s mental health). It also examines whether the level of participation in group modifies this mediation. We recruited 297 participants members of Facebook and Reddit groups (63.64% women, 30.64% men, 6.40% gender diverse), with a mean age of 31.25 years (SD = 11.38). They were assigned to one of three conditions manipulating the salience of a specific identity: mental health group, personal group, and other group. They then completed a questionnaire measuring their social identification, self-efficacy, and level of participation. The results indicate that social identification mediates the relationship between salience and self-efficacy among members of mental health groups, but that participation does not moderate the relationship between identity salience and social identification. Findings underscore the potential of social media groups to enhance mental health self-efficacy through social identification, with implications for mental health practitioners, group moderators and policy makers.