新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】

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  1. 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】
  2. Faculties
  3. Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences
  4. Disciplines & work groups
  5. Digital Health Communication
  6. Team
  7. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Scherr

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Scherr

Chair, Professor of Digital Health Communication
Digital Health Communication
Phone: +49 821 598 5710
Email:
Room: 5057 (D)
Open hours: upon request
Address: Universit?tsstra?e 10, 86159 Augsburg

Main Research

  • Artificial Intelligence & Health

  • Patient-Provider Communication in Times of AI

  • Social 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】ia, Mental Health &?Psychological Well-Being

  • Suicide Prevention

  • Cross-Cultural Health Communication

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Publications

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Human-Centered AI Communication

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Scherr, S., Cao, B., Jiang, L. C., & Kobayashi, T. (2025). Explaining the use of AI chatbots as context alignment: Motivations behind the use of AI chatbots across contexts and culture. Computers in Human Behavior, 172, 108738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108738

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Algorithmic 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】ia Environments, and Digital Well-Being

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Niu, X., Verduyn, P., Gaskin, J., Scherr, S., McDonnell, D., & Wang, J.-L. (2025). The development and validation of the extended active-passive social media use scale. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 19(3), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2025-3-1

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Scherr, S., Arendt, F., & Haim, M. (2023). Algorithms without frontiers? How language-based algorithmic information disparities for suicide crisis information sustain digital divides over time in 17 countries. Information, Communication & Society, 26(14), 2690–2706. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2022.2097017

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Wang, K., & Scherr, S. (2022). Dance the night away: How automatic TikTok use creates pre-sleep cognitive arousal and daytime fatigue. Mobile 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】ia & Communication, 10(2), 316–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211056116

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Scherr, S., & Wang, K. (2021). Explaining the success of social media with gratification niches: Motivations behind daytime, nighttime, and active use of TikTok in China. Computers in Human Behavior, 124, 106893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106893

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Digital Health Communication, Health Behavior, and Evidence-Based Interventions

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von Lützow, U., Neuendorf, N. L., & Scherr, S. (2025). Effectiveness of just-in-time adaptive interventions for improving mental health and psychological well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Mental Health, 28(1), e301641. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2025-301641
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Zhu, Y., Zeid, N., Leiner, D. J., & Scherr, S. (2025). What motivates information (non-)seeking behaviors about a healthy diet? Journal of Health Psychology, 30(3), 451–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053241245263
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Scherr, S., Reifegerste, D., Arendt, F., van Weert, J. C. M., & Alden, D. L. (2022). Family involvement in medical decision making in Europe and the United States: A replication and extension in five countries. Social Science & 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】icine, 301, 114932. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114932
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Scherr, S., & Goering, M. (2020). Is a self-monitoring app for depression a good place for additional mental health information? Ecological momentary assessment of mental health information seeking among smartphone users. Health Communication, 35(8), 1004–1012. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1606135
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Depression, Self-Harm, and Suicide Prevention

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Wagner, A. J., Reifegerste, D., & Scherr, S. (2025). The same, but different: Understanding responsibility attributions for depression with a cross-national survey in the United States and Germany. Health Policy, 162, 105445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105445

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Ju, Y., Scherr, S., & Prieler, M. (2024). How do recommended elements in suicide news coverage work? An investigation of the effect of responsible reporting and readers' reflectiveness on suicide prevention. Health Communication, 39(9), 1899–1905. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2247154

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Lee, S., Lee, R. J., & Scherr, S. (2023). How tree canopy cover can reduce urban suicide attempts: A geospatial analysis of the moderating role of area deprivation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 230, 104606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104606

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Arendt, F., Markiewitz, A., & Scherr, S. (2023). News for life: Improving the quality of journalistic news reporting to prevent suicides. Journal of Communication, 73(1), 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqac039

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Scherr, S. (2022). Social media, self-harm, and suicide. Current Opinion in Psychology, 46, 101311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101311

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Scherr, S. (2021). Traditional media use and depression in the general population: Evidence for a non-linear relationship. Current Psychology, 40(2), 957–972. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0020-7

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Niederkrotenthaler, T., Braun, M., Pirkis, J., Till, B., Stack, S., Sinyor, M., Tran, U. S., Voracek, M., Cheng, Q., Arendt, F., Scherr, S., Yip, P. S. F., & Spittal, M. J. (2020). Association between suicide reporting in the media and suicide: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 368, m575. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m575

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Scherr, S., Arendt, F., Frissen, T., & Oramas, M. J. (2020). Detecting intentional self-harm on Instagram: Development, testing, and validation of an automatic image-recognition algorithm to discover cutting-related posts. Social Science Computer Review, 38(6), 673–685. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439319836389

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Book

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Scherr, S. (2016). Depression – 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】ien – Suizid: Zur empirischen Relevanz von Depressionen und 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】ien für die Suizidalit?t [Depression – media – suicide: On the empirical relevance of depression and media for suicidality]. Springer VS.
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Curriculum Vitae

Sebastian Scherr (PhD, 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】 of Munich) is a Full Professor and Chair of Digital Health Communication at the 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】 of Augsburg and affiliated with the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Research.


His research examines how individuals navigate AI-driven and algorithmic media environments and how AI is reshaping social media dynamics, with particular emphasis on conversational AI, digital well-being, and vulnerabilities in human–technology interaction. By investigating the individual, contextual, and cultural factors that shape responses to AI systems, his work informs the development of more transparent, accountable, and human-centered AI communication. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and authored the first monograph on depression, media, and suicide. He has received research grants from funding agencies in Germany, Belgium, South Korea, and the United States.?

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Dr. Scherr earned tenure at Texas A&M 新万博体育下载_万博体育app【投注官网】 in 2022 and was named a Ray A. Rothrock ’77 Fellow, an honor awarded by the College of Liberal Arts to highly recommended faculty members in recognition of exceptional research projects and outstanding teaching. In 2021, he received the Early Career Award from the National Communication Association’s Health Communication Division. He has also received multiple top paper and poster awards from major communication associations and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He is Senior Editor of the Q1 journal Health Communication (since 2026) and Senior Consulting Editor of the Q1 journal Psychology of Violence (since 2025). He has been recognized for excellence in teaching and takes pride in supporting the early careers of more than 25 students through co-authored conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications, as well as research awards and travel or research grants.

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