Too much social media and television lead to increased depression among teens

Need for additional evidence that all this time spent in front of a screen harms society, a new study links it to depression in adolescents.

According to one team of scientists from CHU Sainte-Justine and Université de Montréal, tCyber ​​users who use social media and watch television at a higher than average rate are at increased risk for depression during their teenage years. The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that each additional hour an average teenager spent on social media or watching television caused a more serious depression.

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The greatest use of social media, the worst of depression

"A significant badociation between people indicated that an increase of 1 hour in social media usage was badociated with a 0.64% consumption.
The researchers wrote: "In badyzing intra-individual badociations, we found that the increase in the average time spent using social media by 1 hour at the latest in a given year was badociated with an increase of 0.41 the severity of the symptoms of depression during the same year. "

The researchers, who claim that it is the first study to badyze the level of depression depending on the type of screen and time spent, followed 3,826 students from grades 7 to 11 in 31 schools in Montreal. Students were followed from 2012 to 2018 and had to answer questionnaires about their screen time, use and symptoms of depression. Students were asked to rate their feeling of depression on a scale of 0 to 4. Students who rated their depression at 4 had extreme symptoms, while those who were dull did not feel depressed by television or media. social.

Not surprisingly, researchers found that depression was more common among teens who used social media a lot over a four-year period. Same thing for television when she was above average. High levels of computer use over a four-year period also resulted in an increase in depression while video games did not cause any depressive symptoms., Discovered the researchers.

Less time on the screen equals happier teens

"The most important finding of the post-hoc badyzes was that the increase in the use of social media and television was badociated with a decline in self-esteem over time. "Self-esteem", wrote the researchers.

The researchers warned that their work was facing limits. For starters, the researchers did not distinguish between the types of screens students were looking at. For example, it was not determined which social media sites were attending students or what types of television shows they were watching. "To our knowledge, this study is the first to present a
developmental badysis of the variations of the depression and the different types of time spent in front of a screen. This study indicated that adolescents' use of social networks and television should be regulated to prevent the development of depression and reduce the risk of depression.
exacerbation of existing symptoms over time, "concluded the researchers.

The scientists at CHU Sainte-Justine and the Université de Montréal are not the only ones to badociate depression with social media. A study from the University of Pennsylvania revealed to Novembert that Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram were at the origin of a decrease in wellbeing. These researchers concluded that using social media less would significantly reduce feelings of depression and loneliness.