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Previous research has provided inconsistent findings as to whether socially (in)competent individuals benefit from social networking sites (SNSs) use. Based on the rich-get-richer model, some studies have shown that socially competent individuals expand their existing networks even further via SNSs use. Based on the poor-get-richer model, other studies have shown that those with poor social skills can achieve beneficiary outcomes from SNSs use by overcoming their deficient social resources of offline environments. The present study is devised to add evidence regarding how and why social skills are related to SNSs use. To this end, we tested the relationships between social competence and three types of Facebook communication activities: interaction, self-presentation, and passive observation. Further, drawing on the social cognitive theory, the mediating role of outcome expectancy in the relationship between social competence and Facebook communication activities was examined. Using an online survey in South Korea (N = 708), it was found that individuals with higher social competence were more likely than those with lower social competence to engage in interaction, self-presentation, passive observation on Facebook. Moreover, these relationships were mediated by outcome expectancy that the desired social outcomes could be achieved as a result of Facebook use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether the number of suicides in the public in the weeks following the media coverage of celebrity suicide varied with the reason of the suicide. Using 9-year data, from 2007 to 2015, collected in South Korea, we found that when the reported reason of a celebrity's suicide was either "depression," "financial problems," or "life despair," there were more suicides in the public and more individuals searched for suicide methods on the Web during the weeks following the media coverage than when other reasons were reported. Additionally, the frequency of searching for suicide methods on the Web was found to be a strong predictor of the number of suicides in the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study was performed to examine the effects of the public attention to ‘crime of schizophrenia’ on the use of mental health services in patients with schizophrenia using big data analysis in Korea. Methods: Data on the frequency of internet searches for ‘crime of schizophrenia’ and the patterns of mental health service utilization by patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders by month were collected from Naver big data and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services in Korea, respectively. Their correlations in the same and following month for lagged effect were examined. Results: The number of outpatients correlated negatively with public attention to ‘crime of schizophrenia’ in the same month. The lagged relationship between public attention and the number of admissions in psychiatric wards was also found. In terms of sex differences, the use of outpatient services among female patients correlated negatively with public attention in the same month while the number of male patients’ admissions in both same and following month correlated positively with public attention. Discussion: These findings suggested that public attention to ‘crime of schizophrenia’ could negatively affect illness behavior in patients with schizophrenia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]