Receiving Online Support Matters: Disentangling the Effects of Seeking vs. Receiving Support on Social Media on Mental Health Under Stress

Social media provide many opportunities to seek and receive support from close or distant others. Hopes of increased mental health by obtaining social support in an instant through social media have, however, been dimmed by inconsistent findings on the effect of online support on mental health and well-being. In a measurement burst diary study among university students in Germany featuring t = 6371 observations from n = 597 individuals, this paper highlights how relationships between online support and mental health are shaped by different steps within everyday supportive interactions: While seeking support is negatively related to mental health outcomes, receiving support via social media positively impacts mental health. The positive associations of receiving support and mental health were consistent in both multilevel regressions and random intercept cross-lagged panel models on the same and the next day. The context or intensity of stressors did not affect this relationship. Stressor intensity and context may, however, determine whether support needs are met in the online realm: Received support was lower when seeking online support for stressors with high intensity or in the context of friendships.