Can Social Media Cause Depression?
The term “social media” refers to any app or website where one interacts with other people; popular examples being Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, blogs, or virtual worlds like Second Life. Maintaining an online presence demands large amounts of attention and visibility, possibly creating a harmful self-view and unrealistic substitute for face-to-face interaction. Yet, these platforms are very popular: they connect diverse peoples, build relationships across vast distances, and provide accessible entertainment. Parents often worry about how such virtual interaction impacts the mental health of their children, especially when faced with early research that accused social media sites of causing depression. A 2018 study also found a positive correlation between online networking, symptoms of clinical depression, and suicide rates. These previous studies have supported a correlation, but do not provide sufficient evidence to clearly establish that social media causes those symptoms.
Social media is becoming increasingly prevalent and it remains unclear what negative effects this may be causing.
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To investigate whether virtual interaction directly causes these depressive symptoms, researchers at Brock University surveyed 594 adolescents and 1,132 undergraduate students in Canada. The majority of the survey asked about the frequency of a specific action during a typical day, and the results were used to compute a score for depressive symptoms. Two more questions quantified hours of social media use during the weekend and weekdays. The researchers accounted for other variables by collecting information on demographics, other digital activities involving screen-based interaction like gaming or television use, and non-digital activities like face-to-face interaction and homework. To understand how these factors changed over time, the adolescents were surveyed in 2017 and 2018, while the adults were surveyed annually for six years from 2010–2016.
The researcher found that online contact did not increase depressive symptoms over time, but that existing depression prompted younger girls to increase social media use. This may imply that virtual spaces serve as an outlet for depression among adolescents, but doesn’t itself cause depression. Additional support for this claim came from previous research concluding that adolescents often made social media posts to improve their mood and feel more happy, whereas young adults use these platforms to keep up with distant friends.
While enlightening, this study’s conclusions are not definitive. First, researchers did not ask how people used their time online, which might otherwise highlight a specific depression-related problem. Sampling also largely consisted of white Canadians from Ontario, which may not be completely representative. To claim causality, researchers would need an experiment where they control individual time spent on various platforms to see whether that influences depression.
If future findings uncover that social media doesn’t cause depression, then parents should seek to promote their adolescents’ mental health rather than curtailing Internet access. Although it may be tempting to blame networking technology, the relationship between virtual contact and depression remains too complex for one general consensus. It remains up to individuals to reflect on whether or not social media is positively affecting their lives.
The researcher found that online contact did not increase depressive symptoms over time, but that existing depression prompted younger girls to increase social media use. This may imply that virtual spaces serve as an outlet for depression among adolescents, but doesn’t itself cause depression. Additional support for this claim came from previous research concluding that adolescents often made social media posts to improve their mood and feel more happy, whereas young adults use these platforms to keep up with distant friends.
While enlightening, this study’s conclusions are not definitive. First, researchers did not ask how people used their time online, which might otherwise highlight a specific depression-related problem. Sampling also largely consisted of white Canadians from Ontario, which may not be completely representative. To claim causality, researchers would need an experiment where they control individual time spent on various platforms to see whether that influences depression.
If future findings uncover that social media doesn’t cause depression, then parents should seek to promote their adolescents’ mental health rather than curtailing Internet access. Although it may be tempting to blame networking technology, the relationship between virtual contact and depression remains too complex for one general consensus. It remains up to individuals to reflect on whether or not social media is positively affecting their lives.
Featured Image Source: LoboStudioHamburg
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