The Washington Post (6/11, Gibson) reports a study of social media use and depressive symptoms among early adolescents over a three-year period “found that an increase in social media use predicted a future rise in symptoms of depression – but not the other way around.” Researchers examined data drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. They observed that “daily social media use among study participants surged tenfold over those years, from about 7 minutes per day at age 9, to 74 minutes per day by age 13. During that same time frame, reported depression symptoms jumped 35 percent.” Although the minimum age requirement for most social media platforms is 13 years old, researchers noted that “20 percent of 9- and 10-year-olds had social media accounts, and by age 11 or 12, two-thirds of them did. On average, those children had accounts on three platforms.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)