Brittany Thurmbuchler

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102
29 March 2016
Self Assessment: If I would give myself a grade on my annotated bibs I would probably give
myself a 90. I think that I worked hard on them and gathered as much information as I could
include as well as met most of the requirements. However, there is always room for improvement
and I know that there are areas of my writing that need strengthening.
ANNOTATED BIB 1
Richards, Deborah, Patrina H. Y. Caldwell, and Henry Go. "Impact of Social Media on the
Health of Children and Young People." Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 51.12
(2015): 1152-1157. Print.

Deborah Richards, Patrina Caldwell, and Henry Go

wrote a

peer-reviewed article for the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health discussing the impact of
social media on the health of children and young people. Dr. Patrina Caldwell is an Associate
Professor in the Discipline of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney in
Australia, as well as a general pediatrician. The three authors collaborated on this article to

discuss the negative effects of social media, especially on societys youth. Their target audience
isnt only societys youth, but also those that allow young children to have excessive access to
social media sites. Richards, Caldwell, and Go address the various negative impacts of social
media on young children including: effects on self-esteem and well-being, cyberbullying,
Facebook depression, risk-taking behavior, and communication.
The article begins with some statistics, informing the audience that, American statistics
show that over 60% of young people between the ages of 13-17 have at least one profile on a
social networking site. This goes to show that a large portion of American youth is spending
some, if not most, of their time on at least one social networking site. Those that have at least one
social networking profile are more likely to create profiles on other social networking sites as
well.
Other quotes: Daily use overuse of various forms of media and technology has a negative effect
on the health of all children, preteens and teenagers, which in turn, makes them more prone to
psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, and others.
For some, their digital or online self is an extension of the actual self, and not surprisingly,
positive or negative feedback on the young persons social networking site affects their selfesteem.
Users can use selective self-presentation where they present themselves only in a positive way
on their social media profiles.
Preteens and teens who spend a great deal of time on social media sites begin to exhibit classic
symptoms of depression.

Those with lower body self-esteem or damaged self-esteem may be more at risk to peer
influences on food intake.
Analysis: What I like about this article is that it focuses on the negative effects of social media,
but still touches on the positives; it incorporates both perspectives which is exactly what Graff
and Birkenstein teach in They Say I Say. Their research is very relevant to my inquiry seeing
as their focus is on the effects of social media on young children, both mental and physical, as
well as positive and negative. Although there is limited research on the effects of social media on
mental health, I think people are beginning to understand that social media is not all good and
more research will be done in the near future.
ANNOTATED BIB 2
Reflection: I am still getting the hang of writing annotated bibliographies. It seems a little odd to
me right now because I am still learning the formatting and information needed for each but I
think it will get easier as I go along.
Perloff, Richard M. "Social Media Effects on Young Womens Body Image Concerns:
Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research." Sex Roles : a Journal of
Research. 71 (2014): 363-377. Print.

Richard M. Perloff is a professor of communication, psychology, and political science at

Cleveland State University. He emphasizes the intersection of social psychology and mass media
communication and offers a scholarly view on this intersection in his textbook, The Dynamics of
Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes of the 21 Century. Perloff explains in his textbooks,
st

journals, and plethora of published articles that individuals cultivate perceptions of media effects.
These perceptions have psychological undercurrents which, in turn, can have behavioral effects.
In this peer-reviewed journal, Perloff discusses the effect that mass media and social media have
on a females body image. His research is aimed at focusing on those predisposed to develop
psychological patterns that could lead to problems with self-perception such as eating disorders
and low self-esteem.
Perloff articulates that, exposure to media messages can impart unrealistic images of
female beauty. Internalization of these distorted images is of concern because it can lead to body
dissatisfaction, a key predictor of disordered eating; media influences on body dissatisfaction and
eating disorders are a function of a host of interrelated psychological and normative processes.
This quote gives the general idea of Perloffs research and the main focus of his article.

Other quotes: More than 80 % of 1829 year olds in the U.S. are wireless Internet users, and
72% of the online 1829 year-old cohort uses social networking sites.
As a result of traditional gender role socialization processes, girls and women learn to selfobjectify, internalizing societal emphases on attending to outward appearance rather than inner
qualities; they also come to assign more importance to physical appearance than do boys, and are
more attuned to appearance management to conform to stereotyped physical attractiveness
ideals.
Internalization of body perfect ideals and body size stereotypes begin when girls in Western
societies are as young as 3 years-old. Mass media have been implicated as an especially
significant source of influence of these perceptions. Beginning with young girls exposure to
mass communicated images of the Barbie doll the cultural icon of female beauty moving
developmentally to viewing of television advertisements and programs that celebrate ultra-thin
models, and culminating in adolescence and early adulthood with appearance-focused Facebook
conversations, picture sharing, and fashion-focused tweets, contemporary mass and social media
exert a potent impact on the development of thinness ideals and body dissatisfaction.
Many Websites are devoted to promoting pro-anorexic ideals. These contain positive depictions
of an anorexic lifestyle; religiously-based metaphors; and some 10 core themes, such as
perfection (cultural norms linking thinness with perfection); transformation (eating disorders can
help transform an individual from the hated ugly and fat to the desired thin and beautiful);
and success (association of success with strength and ability to keep the weight off);

the impact of pro-ana Websites, indicating that exposure to these sites exerts a number of shortterm negative influences, such as lower self-esteem, negative affect, and decreased perceived
attractiveness.
Psychological processes, such as social comparisons, should mediate the impact of social media
uses on body image concerns.
A classic mass communication perspectiveuses and gratificationsemphasizes that people
are not passive and submissive when it comes to media use. Instead, the uses and gratifications
approach stipulates that individuals are active participants who use media to satisfy needs,
seeking particular gratifications to fulfill motives and deriving gratifications from media use.
young adult women who are low in self-esteem and high in thin-ideal internalization, or high in
perfectionism and appearance-based self-worth, should turn to social media to satisfy
gratifications, such as reassurance and validation regarding physical and social attractiveness, as
well as escape from appearance related personal distress. They may satisfy reassurance needs by
compulsively checking their Facebook profile pictures, validate their self-concepts by spending
considerable time comparing their Instagram pictures to those of less attractive friends, and try to
ritualistically escape personal problems by tweeting celebrity role models.
that social comparisons play in explaining media effects on body image concerns. Social
comparison theory, in its original version and revised iterations, states that people find it
diagnostic and functional to compare themselves to others, particularly those who are similar on
attributes that are central to their definition of self.
Analysis: I believe that Perloff is right when he claims that women, when exposed to ideal
images of beauty on social media, can develop unhealthy behaviors such as eating disorders due

to an underlying psychological source. Most of the time when a mental illness arises, there is an
incident that triggered it to occur or develop. In this case the trigger is social media and it is
causing multiple mental illnesses such as eating disorders, low self-esteem, and many more.
Women seem to be more sensitive to the images and things posted on social media due to the fact
that society is telling them (women specifically) they need to look and behave a certain way in
order to be liked and accepted.
ANNOTATED BIB 3
Henriques, Gregg. "The College Student Mental Health Crisis." Psychology Today. n.p., 15 Feb.
2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

Reflection: I am beginning to better understand the annotated bibliographies and I am starting

to think of more topics and ideas to research to help me further in my inquiry. I still need to look
at the sheet but I think I am quickly learning everything I need to know and answer for each
annotated bib.

Gregg Henriques Ph.D. is the director of the Combined Clinical and School of
Psychology Doctoral Program at James Madison University. He received his M.A. in clinical
psychology from UNC-Charlotte and his Ph.D. from the University of Vermont and also
completed many years of postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. Henriques is a
licensed clinical psychologist with a focus in depression, suicide, and personality disorders. He is
the author of A New Unified Theory of Psychology and developed a meta-theoretical system for
psychology that is expressed in professional journals. Gregg Henriques is currently teaching
courses in personality theory, personality assessment, social psychology, and integrative adult
psychotherapy and he is working with his students to create a general system of psychotherapy.
His article in Psychology Today, The College Student Mental Health Crisis, addresses the
alarming increase in mental health problems in college students across the country. He goes as
far as to call it an epidemic of mental illnesses. The goal of Henriques blog is to look at the
evidence that displays an emergence of mental health problems in college students. He is
addressing college students and their counselors, doctors, and peers.
Henriques presents evidence of one study that, found that the average high school
student in the year 2000 has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient did in the
1950s; and those rates have only increased in the last decade. This study really puts into
perspective how serious the increases in mental illnesses are getting. One of the most dangerous
facets of mental illnesses is the concern of suicide; the suicide rate has tripled and it is the second
most common cause of death amongst college students.
Other quotes: When we look at lifestyle habitslike eating patterns, sexual activity, sleeping
and drinkingwe also see evidence of markedly increasing maladaptive patterns.

Yet, with college students averaging just over 6 hours of sleep and the serious problems
associated with sleep deprivation clearly documented(link is external), the poor sleep patterns are
not to be taken lightly and are likely significantly associated with mental health problems in
other domains.
In addition, there has emerged a hook up culture which has been linked to psychological
problems, such as drinking, anxiety and depression.
Analysis: I think this text is very applicable to my inquiry question and research. It gives
valuable information on the alarming increase of mental illnesses among college students. This
information will help people gain a better understanding of how serious this epidemic is
becoming and it will also educate them on different common types of mental illnesses. It is a
very easy read but is also informative and insightful.
ANNOTATED BIB 4
Aneshensel, Carol S, Jo C. Phelan, and Alex Bierman. Handbook of the Sociology of Mental
Health. Dordrecht: Springer, 2012.

Reflection: As I begin to write more annotated bibs, I am finding them easier to write. It is also
becoming easier to identify what resources I need and what sources could be valuable to my
inquiry. I no longer need to look at previous annotated bibs to make sure I am following the

format and I am almost always sure to answer all of the questions when the answers are
available to me.
Carol Aneshensal is an American sociologist who specializes in the sociology of mental
health and medical sociology. Her work focuses on connecting how the organization of society
correlates to the mental health of the citizens. She is the current professor and vice chair for the
Department of Community Health and Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. She
received her Ph.D. in Sociology at Cornell University. Jo Phelan is an associate professor at
Columbia University in New York and her work focuses on social stigma, conceptions of mental
illness, and social inequalities in health. Alex Bierman co-edited the Handbook of Sociology of
Mental Health with Aneshensal and Phelan. His research uses physical and mental health as a
mirror to reflect the importance of structural arrangements in peoples lives.
The second edition of the Handbook of Sociology of Mental Health goes into great depth
to investigate the ways that society shapes mental health. It dives into various topics and possible
causes of mental illnesses such as stress, age, race, gender, etc. while also addressing social
stigmas and labeling, and the roles that self/identity play in the development of mental illnesses.
The authors sum up the most common causes of mental illnesses when they say, Conversely,
psychological disorder has been attributed to unconscious conflicts within the individuals
personality, arrested or inadequate identity development, threats to self-conception or self-esteem
and identity loss, among many related processes. Some theorists and researchers see injuries to
identity or self-worth not only as precursors but as key markers of mental disorder (357). The
authors are claiming that the biggest contributor to mental illnesses is the perception of ones self
and the development of the identity and personality. The audience of the text seems to be
everyone: people with mental illnesses, researchers conducting experiments or developing theses

about mental health, and anyone else who is interested in learning (in great detail) about mental
health.
Other quotes:
Chapter 5
Reflecting their beliefs about the causes of mental illness, Americans generally endorse medical
treatment for psychiatric disorders, including psychiatric medications (77).
Although the publics support for treatment is high when responding to a vignette character,
when asked whether they would personally take psychiatric medications, their support drops
considerably (77).
feeling depressed, tired, worthless, or were having trouble sleeping and concentratingall
symptoms of major depression (77).
Even though the public recommends psychiatric medications for most disorders, they also
believe psychiatric medications do more to treat the symptoms of mental illness than the cause
(78).
Measured in this fashion, the stigma of mental illness varies between disorders, following
closely the observers assessments of dangerousness. Even so, the stigma of mental illness is
quite high even for conditions that entail little or no obvious danger. For example, 47% of
Americans report being unwilling to work with someone with major depression and 53% report
being unwilling to allow such a person to marry into their family, but only 32% believe that
someone with major depression is dangerous to others (82).

Indeed, if those with severe mental illness are occasionally viewed with sympathy or assumed to
suffer from conditions over which they have little control, those with less severe disorders,
whose deviance is more circumstantial and periodic, may be granted less tolerance precisely
because their symptoms seem more willful (82).
Chapter 18: Self, Identity, Stress, and Mental Health
Almost all approaches in psychiatry and clinical psychology (with the exception of
behaviorism) view individuals mental health as at least partly in fl uenced by positive selfconceptions, high self-esteem, and/or the possession of valued social identities (357).
Because peoples self-conceptions are closely linked to their psychological states, stressors that
damage or threaten self-concepts are likely to predict emotional problems (358).
The self is that aspect of the person that has experiences, re fl ects on experiences, and acts
upon self-understandings derived from experiences (358).
In general, selves, identities, or self-concepts (terms I will use interchangeably) are
understandings of ourselves as speci fi c objects that can be named or classified (359).
In contrast, self-esteem (also termed self-regard, self-worth, and self-evaluation) is an
understanding of ones quality as an objectthat is, how good or bad, valuable or worthless,
competent or incompetent, or superior or inferior one is (359).
Analysis: I believe that the information provided in the Handbook of the Sociology of Mental
Health is helpful and educational. The handbook itself is more than 25 chapters long and not all
of the information provided related directly to my inquiry; I only used a select few chapters to
obtain my information. The text itself is not very easy to read. There were a lot of medical and

professional terms and abbreviations used that I did not understand and there was also a lot of
math and scientific theories involved that I also did not understand. However, I believe that the
information I was able to obtain will be very useful when discussing my inquiry question.
ANNOTATED BIB 5
Walton, Alice G. "New Study Links Facebook to Depression: But Now We Actually Understand
Why." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Reflection: As I am getting closer to completing all 7 annotated bibs, I am finding it harder to

find topics to research and google. Most websites that google suggests are not very credible
sources and most books in the library focus on a very specific aspect of social media in society
or of mental illnesses in society. I think it will be a challenge to find sources for my last two
annotated bibs.

Forbes is an American magazine that includes articles on finance, industry, investing,

and marketing topics while also reporting on subjects such as technology, communications,
science, and law. The first issue came out in 1917 and it is now published bi-weekly. Alice G.
Walton, the author of the article, New Study Links Facebook to Depression: But Now We
Actually Understand Why, has an interest in areas such as the brain and behavior, influences
on decision-making, and how the media hinders the understanding of health. She received her
PhD in Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at CUNYs Graduate Center. Her work
has appeared in several publications and she is an associate editor with
thedoctorwillseeyounow.com, a health website.
Her article, New Study Links Facebook to Depression: But Now We Actually
Understand Why, explores the correlation between Facebook users and depressive
symptoms. The article focuses on one main contributor to the link between Facebook and
depression: social comparisons. Social comparing is when users compare their lives to the
lives of their friends based off of what they see on social media. Research has found that the
more time users spend on Facebook, the more depressive symptoms they show and social
comparison is the mediator.

Other quotes: The social network has been linked to a surprising number of undesirable
mental health consequences: depression, low self-esteem, and bitter jealousy among them.

People who used Facebook more tended to have more depressive symptoms.

depressed feelings and lots of time on Facebook and comparing oneself to others tend to go
hand in hand.

upward social comparisons (e.g., looking at someone more popular or attractive than
yourself) tend to make people feel worse, whereas downward comparisons (comparing
yourself to someone with lower grades than you) tend to make people feel better about
themselves.

people who logged more Facebook time not only had more depressive symptoms, but that
social comparison in any direction was the mediator.

Analysis: I found this article to be very useful for my inquiry research. It discusses the
relationship between social media and the depressive symptoms that its users display.
However, it does so by narrowing in on one factor: social comparison, which I believe plays a
huge role in the relationship between social media and mental illnesses.
ANNOTATED BIB 6
Kasteler, Jordan. "How Social Media Is Influencing Your Behavior." Search Engine Land. n.p.,
04 May 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Reflection: After this bib, I have one left to complete. The information provided by my sources is
beginning to overlap and I am hoping to begin piecing everything together soon. I have learned

a lot of valuable information so far and I am excited to begin compiling everything and share my
information with my audience.
Jordan Kasteler works for the agency MWI as the Digital Marketing Strategist. His work
history includes entrepreneurship, co-founding and serving positions in companies like
BlueGrass Interactive and other companies. He is an international conference speaker, blogger,
and is the author of the book, A to Z: Social Media Marketing. His article, How Social Media is
Influencing Your Behavior, discusses the findings Kasteler found when reading the book
Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. He
touches on the different ways that social media can affect our behavior. His main focus of the
article, however, is to inform the audience (social media users) that the things we are seeing and
the people we spend our time with are affecting our lives and lifestyle choices.
Kasteler sums up this idea when he says, We like to think that we are largely in control
of our day-to-day lives, yet most of what we do, from what we eat to who we sleep with, and
even the way we feel, is significantly influenced by those around us and those around them, and
those around them. Whether we notice it or not, as human beings we tend to feel the need to
conform or to fit in. In order to do so, we take up the habits or personalities of those around us.
Other quotes: For the most part, Facebook is used to maintain existing offline relationships or
solidify offline connections, as opposed to meeting new people.
In a subtle fashion, social networks help spread contagions; create epidemics of obesity,
smoking and substance abuse, disseminate fads and markets, alter voting patterns, and more.
Social networks can harbor a flow of generally undesirable things such as anger and sadness,
unhappiness, but good things also flow like happiness, love, altruism, and valuable information.

Analysis: I think that although this article was very short, it provided me with a good amount of
quotes that can relate to other information I have gathered from my other sources. It also lead me
to a book that I think will be extremely useful while finishing up my research for my inquiry. I
am excited to read it and see what information it has to offer.
ANNOTATED BIB 7
Christakis, Nicholas A., and James H. Fowler. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social
Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. New York: Little, Brown, 2009. Print.

Reflection: This is my last annotated bibliography and I feel like I have mastered them at this
point. The last few that I have written have been very easy for me to write and I no longer find
myself looking at the sheet to make sure I include all of the information required. I am really
looking forward to piecing all of the information I have found together and composing my thesis.
I think that I have found some very valuable and informative information that will help my
reader better understand my inquiry question and develop their own perspective on the topic.
Nicholas A. Christakis is an American sociologist and psychologist. He is a professor at
Harvard University and is known for his research on social networks and the social determinants
of behavior and health. He was named in Time Magazines Time 100 in 2009, a list of the 100

most influential people in the world. James H. Fowler is an American social scientist and is
currently a professor at the University of California, San Diego. He received graduate degrees
from Harvard and Yale. In their book Connected, Christakis and Fowler explain how social
networks can influence our health, behavior, emotions, and more.
The authors of the book summarize the massive influence of social media when they say,
The eating, drinking, and smoking habits of our friends who live hundreds of miles away appear
to have as much influence as the habits of our friends who live next door (286). It is hard to
imagine that someone hundred of miles away, that we may or may not know, can influence our
behavior. They could have a small influence or a dramatic one. The impact that social media has
had on our generation and generations to come is insane; not only are our friends influencing the
decision we make but so are celebrities and random people we find on social media sites.
Other quotes: Humans deliberately make and remake their social networks all the time. The
primary example of this is homophily, the conscious or unconscious tendency to associate with
people who resemble us (17).
The invention of each new method of communication has contributed to a debate stretching
back centuries about how technology affects community. Pessimists have expressed the concern
that new ways of communicating might weaken traditional ways of relating, leading people to
turn aways from a full range of in person interactions with others that, in bygone eras, were
necessary and normal parts of life. Optimists argue that such technologies merely augment,
extend, and supplement the conventional ways people form connections (256).
One important way in which virtual worlds differ from the real world is our ability to control
our own appearance (261).
Part of the reason for this is that our physical appearance affects the way others treat us (261).

Our physical appearance, however, also affects how we perceive ourselves and therefore how
we act (261).
The recent surge in mobile phones, the internet, and social network sites has shifted our ability
to stay in touch with one another into overdrive, causing us to become hyperconnected (275).
Online networks provide new avenues for influence and social contagion (286).
The eating, drinking, and smoking habits of our friends who live hundreds of miles away appear
to have as much influence as the habits of our friends who live next door (286).
Analysis: I was so excited when I stumbled across this book. I had been looking for a book
source for a while and this was just the one I needed. It provided a lot of information about social
networks and how great of a role they play in our lives, whether or not we notice it. The book
also gave a lot of information about how social networks have changed over time and they also
touched on how they may affect us in the future. Now that all 7 annotated bibliographies are
complete, I feel as though I have gained a great deal of knowledge. I have learned so much,
especially about social media and its impact on behavior, and so much more insight than I did
before beginning the research for my inquiry. I am excited to tie it all together and read the
outcome of it all.