Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Tracey Phillips

Abstract

Suicide among women in the United States increased significantly over the last decade, now accounting for six suicides per 100,000 population. Concurrently, there has been an increase in social media use, with women exhibiting elevated presence on social networking platforms. Grounded in the theoretical framework of the theory of suicide and the interpersonal theory of suicide, the purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to evaluate the association between social media use, feelings of belongingness, and suicidal ideation to address the increased suicide rate among adult women in the United States. One research question focused on how social media use moderates the relationship between feelings of belongingness and suicidal ideation among adult women over age 21. A convenience sample of 98 participants was recruited via social networking sites and electronic communication. Participants completed an anonymous online survey, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze survey data. Key findings determined that social media use did not moderate the relationship between feelings of belongingness and suicidal ideation. However, there was a significant, positive relationship between social media use and suicidal ideation. There was a significant, negative relationship between feelings of belongingness and suicidal ideation. These study findings have far-reaching implications in advising prevention programming strategies that target healthy social media use and online behavior. Additionally, these findings provide context for the development of gender-specific intervention and treatment strategies that focus on the psychosocial factors associated with suicidality among women.

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