Teens Spending More Time on Social Media Have Increased Depression: Study

The suicide rate among teenagers is at its highest level since 2000. And a new study released Monday indicates that too much time spent on social media could help.

A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics revealed that teens who spend too much time on social media or watching television become significantly more depressed.

The study, which lasted six years, followed more than 3,800 students in Montreal and asked them to follow (in class) how much time they had spent each day watching television, browsing social media and to play video games. As part of the same survey, they were asked to measure the level of their depressive symptoms, such as loneliness and sadness.

The study found that an increase of as little as one hour of interaction with social media compared to normal levels would result in a measurable increase in depression. (Interestingly, the researchers found no correlation between signs of depression and video games.)

"We found an association between social media and depression in adolescence," reads the report. "Based on the bottom-up social comparison, repeated exposure to idealized images may lower teenagers' self-esteem, trigger depression and improve depression over time. In addition, larger users of depressed social media seem to be more affected by the time spent on social media, potentially by the nature of the information they select. "

Several previous studies have linked social media to depression, but this seems to be the first long-term focus exclusively on adolescents. Although the JAMA study did not establish a link between screen time and the increase in suicides, she noted that depression during adolescence was linked to teenage suicide.

The authors acknowledge that there are limitations to their study, including not knowing what types of social media and what kinds of television make depressive symptoms worse. However, they note that "the use of social media and television by adolescents should be regulated to prevent the development of depression and reduce the exacerbation of existing symptoms over time."