CNN (7/15, Howard) reports, “For every additional hour young people spend on social media or watching television, the severity of depressive symptoms they experience goes up,” research indicated. The study revealed that “high levels of social media use over four years was associated with increased depression – and each one-hour increase in the average time students said they spent on social media was associated with an increase in the severity of depression symptoms within that same year.” CNN adds, “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents place consistent limits on how many hours per day their preteens or teens spend using screens.” Child and adolescent psychiatrist Gary Maslow, MD, “said in January that he often points his patients’ families to the American Academy of Pediatrics for tips on how to establish healthy social media habits at home.”
MedPage Today (7/15, Hlavinka) reports, “In a group of 3,826 adolescents, those with high levels of social media use had a 0.64-unit increase in depression symptoms (95% CI 0.32-0.51) on a scale of 0 to 28, and on the individual level, each hour of increased social media use within a year was associated with a 0.41-unit increase in depressive symptoms,” the study revealed. The findings were published online July 15 in JAMA Pediatrics. Also covering the study are MD Magazine (7/15, Campbell) and HealthDay (7/15, Preidt).
Related Links:
— “Increasing social media use tied to rise in teens’ depressive symptoms, study says, “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, July 15, 2019