Analysis of Online Behaviors and Their Relationship with Psychological Vulnerability: A Data-Driven Approach to Social Mental Health
Keywords:
Online behavior, psychological vulnerability, social mental health, social media, problematic internet use, data-driven analysis , thematic analysisAbstract
This study aimed to identify online behavioral patterns associated with psychological vulnerability and explain the individual and social mechanisms underlying this relationship among adult users living in Tehran. This qualitative study employed an inductive thematic analysis approach. The participants were 24 adult internet and social media users living in Tehran, including 14 women and 10 men aged 19–42 years, who were selected through purposive maximum-variation sampling. Data were collected exclusively through individual semi-structured interviews. Each interview lasted approximately 45–75 minutes, was audio-recorded with informed consent, and was transcribed verbatim. Theoretical saturation was reached after the twenty-first interview, followed by three confirmatory interviews to ensure data adequacy. The data were managed and analyzed using NVivo software through familiarization, initial coding, category development, theme review, theme definition, and interpretive synthesis. Credibility and trustworthiness were enhanced through participant checking, peer review, an audit trail, reflexive note-taking, and maximum-variation sampling. Five main categories emerged from the analysis: compensatory online use for emotion regulation; social comparison and vulnerability in self-evaluation; information overload, cognitive fatigue, and sleep disruption; the dual experience of online social support and interpersonal threats; and observable behavioral indicators for the early identification of psychological vulnerability. Recurrent checking of notifications, aimless scrolling, nighttime use, mood dependence on online feedback, repeated deletion and reinstallation of applications, withdrawal from face-to-face relationships, and heightened sensitivity to online visibility were described as salient indicators of increasing distress. The findings also showed that supportive online interactions could reduce loneliness, whereas rejection, cyberaggression, privacy concerns, and exposure to idealized content intensified psychological vulnerability. Psychological vulnerability appeared to be associated not merely with the amount of time spent online but with motives for use, interaction quality, exposure context, perceived control, and the displacement of protective offline activities. Data-driven mental health approaches should therefore move beyond screen-time indicators and integrate behavioral, emotional, interpersonal, and contextual markers. Digital mental health literacy, emotion-regulation training, notification management, sleep-related interventions, and ethically designed early-warning systems may contribute to the promotion of social mental health.
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