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THURSDAY, March 14, 2019 (HealthDay News) – Young Americans may be more vulnerable to depression, distress and thoughts or suicidal attempts than their parents' generation, and social media could fuel this worrying trend.
Thus, calls for a decade-long data analysis of about 200,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 and 400,000 young adults over 18 years of age.
Investigators found that, as of the mid-2000s, those under 26 began reporting a dramatic increase in symptoms associated with all three mental health issues. The spikes ranged from about 55 to 70%. No such jump has been observed in adults over 26 years old.
"Other studies have also documented an increase in adolescent mental health problems, but it was unclear whether there was a change among the people in the group." any age or a generation change, "explained the study's author, Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University. .
The latest findings suggest that a generation change is underway. These young adults "experience mental health problems at a much higher rate than those of Generation Y and still have them, even after considering their age and age," said Twenge. Millennia are those born between 1981 and 1996.
Why? "These increases in behavior," said Twenge, "can not be explained by [more] awareness or recognition. "
Twenge rather thinks that the likely culprit is the soaring social media over the past 10 years. The result, she said, is that "the way adolescents and young adults spend their leisure time has changed fundamentally".
They "spend less time with their friends in person, less time sleeping and more time on digital media," noted Twenge. "Decreased sleep time can be particularly important because lack of sleep is a major risk factor for depression and suicidal thoughts."
In addition, digital media is "something that happens to them every day, for hours at a time," she said. "So it makes sense that this has the most important impact on their mental health."
And that impact has not been good.
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