Then and Now: Quantifying the Longitudinal Validity of Self-Disclosed Depression Diagnoses

Keith Harrigian, Mark Dredze

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Self-disclosed mental health diagnoses, which serve as ground truth annotations of mental health status in the absence of clinical measures, underpin the conclusions behind most computational studies of mental health language from the last decade. However, psychiatric conditions are dynamic; a prior depression diagnosis may no longer be indicative of an individual’s mental health, either due to treatment or other mitigating factors. We ask: to what extent are self-disclosures of mental health diagnoses actually relevant over time? We analyze recent activity from individuals who disclosed a depression diagnosis on social media over five years ago and, in turn, acquire a new understanding of how presentations of mental health status on social media manifest longitudinally. We also provide expanded evidence for the presence of personality-related biases in datasets curated using self-disclosed diagnoses. Our findings motivate three practical recommendations for improving mental health datasets curated using self-disclosed diagnoses: 1. Annotate diagnosis dates and psychiatric comorbidities 2. Sample control groups using propensity score matching 3.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCLPsych 2022 - 8th Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology, Proceedings
EditorsAyah Zirikly, Dana Atzil-Slonim, Maria Liakata, Steven Bedrick, Bart Desmet, Molly Ireland, Andrew Lee, Sean MacAvaney, Matthew Purver, Rebecca Resnik, Andrew Yates
PublisherAssociation for Computational Linguistics (ACL)
Pages59-75
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781955917872
StatePublished - 2022
Event8th Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology, CLPsych 2022 - Seattle, United States
Duration: Jul 15 2022 → …

Publication series

NameCLPsych 2022 - 8th Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology, Proceedings

Conference

Conference8th Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology, CLPsych 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySeattle
Period7/15/22 → …

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Speech and Hearing

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