Abstract
Purpose: It is well-established that self-harm and suicide-related online use can bring harms and benefits for users. Research suggests a need to upskill users and improve metacognition around online engagement to manage these conflicting effects but there is currently a lack of behavioural interventions to achieve this. We explored incidental data from a longitudinal qualitative study, which indicated that self-completing a research diary about online engagements could impact participants’ online behaviour.
Methods: Participants (n=9) were enrolled in a 6-month longitudinal qualitative study exploring self-harm and suicide-related online activity. They were interviewed at three timepoints and between these intervals completed a daily reflective diary of online activity. Experiences of completing the diary were explored qualitatively during mid and end-point interviews, and through free-text diary entries.
Results: All participants derived benefits from journalling about their online use with respect to self-harm and suicide-related content. These included increased insight about time spent online, the motivations behind engagement, and the nature and impact of use. Some participants reported resultant behaviour change. However, daily completion was burdensome and there were potential costs for some participants, such as increased attention or exposure to self-harm content.
Conclusion: Journalling about online activity should be explored more deliberately as a possible method for addressing the existing gap in individual-level interventions to tackle online harms. Well-designed research and co-design work with lived-experience users will be essential to evaluating the potential for this to function safely as an intervention both within and outside of clinical settings.