Evaluating Public Sentiment on ADHD and ASD versus Other Mental Health Disorders: Insights from 10 Years of Twitter (X) Data (Preprint)
Опубликована: Март 31, 2025
BACKGROUND
Neurodevelopmental
disorders,
especially
ADHD
and
ASD,
have
seen
a
marked
rise
in
public
attention,
yet
research
on
opinion
remains
limited.
Social
media
analysis
offers
real-time,
unfiltered
insight
into
perceptions,
enabling
empirical
examination
of
attitudes
opinions.
OBJECTIVE
This
study
aims
to
assess
the
evolution
ASD
over
past
decade
by
analyzing
tweets
from
X
(formerly
Twitter;
Corp,
San
Francisco,
CA),
comparing
perceptions
across
English
Spanish
languages
against
other
mental
health
conditions.
METHODS
Tweets
mentioning
keywords
related
control
conditions
(depression,
anxiety,
insomnia,
bipolar
disorder,
schizophrenia,
suicide,
substance
use
disorders)
were
collected
between
2009
2023.
The
dataset
included
tweets.
Machine
learning
algorithms
then
applied
classify
tweet
content
predefined
categories,
including
volume
tweets,
engagement,
personal
experiences,
trivialization,
perceived
causes,
treatability.
Parametric
nonparametric
tests
used
for
differences
language.
Descriptive
statistics
presented
using
tables
graphical
representations.
RESULTS
A
total
852,990
analyzed,
with
59.97%
40.03%
Spanish.
Overall
increased
significantly
time.
In
English,
about
(18.98%)
(14.59%)
among
most
frequent,
while
Spanish,
accounted
14.49%,
outnumbering
(5.34%).
Engagement
indicated
notable
increase
likes
retweets
per
time,
particularly
post-2019,
ADHD-related
experiencing
peaks
during
COVID-19
pandemic.
however,
had
comparatively
lower
engagement
languages.
sharing
experiences
more
polarized
higher
proportions
negative
positive
compared
mostly
neutral
Trivialization
illnesses
was
less
common
than
(93.59%)
(84.73%).
User-perceived
causes
multifactorial
factors,
biological/genetic
use,
psychological
susceptibility,
acute
psychosocial
stressors,
COVID-19.
Perceived
treatability
varied
language,
but
consistently
high
incurability,
limited
improvement
despite
professional
help,
low
self-manageability
except
anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS
Analysis
social
discourse
showed
attracted
volumes,
COVID-19,
often
described
genetics.
received
attention.
Both
language
groups
awareness
chronicity
illness,
support
self-management
These
findings
underscore
media’s
value
capturing
direct
guide
future
educational
intervention
efforts.
Язык: Английский