Social Media Use Linked to Depression
The more time young adults use social media, the more likely they are to be depressed, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
The findings could guide clinical and public health interventions to tackle depression, forecast to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is published online and scheduled for the April 1 issue of the journal Depression and Anxiety.
This was the first large, nationally representative study to examine associations between use of a broad range of social media outlets and depression. Previous studies on the subject have yielded mixed results, been limited by small or localized samples, and focused primarily on one specific social media platform, rather than the broad range often used by young adults.
This research was funded by National Institute of Mental Health grant R25-MH054318 and National Cancer Institute grant R01-CA140150.
