Facebook
Depression in Teens
Recently, news media were overwhelmed with warnings about
“Facebook depression” in children and teens. The phrase originated in a report
by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) detailing the potential problems
associated with social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Myspace), gaming sites,
virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life), YouTube, and blogs.
Facebook depression, according to the AAP report, may
result if, for example, young users see status updates, wall posts, and photos
that make them feel unpopular. Social media sites may have greater psychosocial
impact on teens with low self-esteem or who are already otherwise troubled. The
report recommended that psychologists help families better understand the
potential harms of social networking sites and encourage parents to monitor
Internet usage and talk to their kids about cyberbullying, sexting, and
exposure to social media content that could negatively affect mental health.
The AAP report has generated controversy among other
researchers and mental health professionals who believe the studies cited in
the report were inaccurately interpreted and other studies supporting the
benefits of social networking sites, such as relationship formation or online
therapy, were not considered. The ongoing debate regarding the report has
brought to light the potential positive and negative aspects of social
networking sites for children and teens who now spend a substantial amount of
time online and whose communication with their peers relies heavily on social
media.
“Social media is a tool; it cannot in and of itself
‘cause’ a medical illness,” says Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, an assistant
professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. In March, Moreno and
colleagues published a study in Depression and Anxiety that evaluated college
students’ Facebook comments for signs of depression. Moreno has also provided
comments to several media outlets covering the Facebook depression issue.
Some forms of media may contribute to feelings of
depression for those who are already depressed, says Moreno. According to the
Media Practice Model, developed by Steele and Brown in 1995, adolescents choose
and interact with media based on who they are or who they want to be at a
particular moment.
“If an adolescent is experiencing feelings of depression
and seeks out media to match those feelings of depression, then yes, Facebook
and other social media can contribute to feelings of depression,” Moreno
explains.
Facebook and other social media may contribute to
depression in three ways—bullying, comparison with others, and influencing
self-worth, says Brent L. Fletcher, LCSW, an outpatient mental health therapist
who works with children aged 5 and older in individual and family therapy and
was recently interviewed by Missouri TV and radio concerning Facebook and
depression.
“Bullying can occur when ‘friends’ post mean or
derogatory statements about others or upload unflattering photos and make
negative comments about them,” says Fletcher.
Facebook friends’ lists and status postings can have a
detrimental effect when children or teens begin comparing themselves with
others on Facebook and find themselves lacking. Thought processes, such as
“They have x number of friends and I don’t” or “They have the relationship
status I want or the life I want,” can lead to low self-esteem, Fletcher says.
Concerning self-worth, Fletcher explains, “The child or
teen may think, ‘What if I post something and nobody responds to it or clicks
the “Like” button on it.’ Consequently, it is easy for them to become depressed
when they are getting their sense of self-worth from the approval of others on
social networking sites.”
Caution Warranted
While bullying and peer pressure were common problems for
children and teens well before the advent of the Internet, social networking
sites have made it impossible for kids to escape from these problems when not
in outside of school. Internet access at home and on cell phones can expose an
adolescent to these issues all day long—and even all night.
In his practice, Fletcher has observed a trend—children
and teens experiencing sleep deprivation because they use their phone or
computer at all hours. Technology has made it easy to access Facebook anytime,
he says, and this can have a detrimental effect on children’s psychosocial
health.
Moreno cautions, though, not to view these potentially
negative aspects as a direct causative relationship between Facebook and other
social media and depression. Other evidence, including her own research,
suggests Facebook can actually help identify those at risk for depression. “Our
studies have found that adolescents often disclose feelings of depression on
Facebook,” she says.
Previous research has found that people may be more
likely to open up or report feelings online vs. in person. “It is possible that
if a teen displayed depression symptoms online, he or she may receive a rapid
response of support online from friends, which may help that teen to feel
supported,” she says.
Fletcher agrees, adding that while Facebook and other
social media can amplify bullying, it can also increase the likelihood that a
troubled child or teen will receive much-needed help from friends and family.
According to Moreno’s study, which evaluated the status
updates of 200 college students, despite the potential for stigma associated
with reporting depression, almost one-quarter of publicly available Facebook
profiles displayed one or more references to depression symptoms that met DSM
criteria. Students were more likely to reference depression on their Facebook
profiles if they averaged at least one comment from their friends on status
postings that disclosed symptoms related to depression.
“This finding suggests that Facebook may be a venue in
which today’s adolescents feel safe displaying depression or seeking support
from others,” Moreno says. She and her colleagues have suggested that social
networking sites could be an innovative method for addressing the stigma
currently associated with mental health conditions or for mental health
professionals to identify children and teens at risk of depression.
“From a public health perspective, it is possible that
targeted online advertisements could be developed to promote therapy or
illustrate resources to help teens who display symptoms of more severe
depression,” she says.
More Facebook
Friends – Higher the Stress is
The more friends a teenager has on Facebook, the more
stressed they are likely to be, which may increase their future risk for
depression. This is according to a new study published in the journal
Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Researchers say the more Facebook friends a teenager has,
the higher their stress levels are likely to be.
Social media use among teenagers has grown rapidly in
recent years. According to a 2012 study from Pew Research Center, around 81% of
teenagers aged 12-17 who are active online use some form of social media, and
71% of them use Facebook.
While such sites can help people stay connected, numerous
studies have suggested their use may have negative health implications,
particularly for adolescents.
Earlier this year, a study was released, suggesting
social media pressure in teenagers may lead to anxiety and depression. Now,
study leader Prof. Sonia Lupien, of the Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Montreal in Canada, and colleagues find that the number of
friends teenagers have on Facebook may impact stress levels - potentially
influencing their later-life depression risk.
To reach their findings, the team recruited 88 teenagers
aged 12-17 - 41 boys and 47 girls. They asked them about their Facebook
behavior, including how often they used the social media site, how many friends
they had on the site, their self-promoting behavior and supporting behavior
toward Facebook friends - such as "liking" the posts of others.
In addition, participants were asked to provide four
samples of cortisol - a hormone released in response to stress - four times a
day for 2 consecutive days.
Compared with teenagers who had fewer than 300 Facebook
friends, those who had more than 300 friends on the social media site had
higher cortisol levels. "We can therefore imagine that those who have
1,000 or 2,000 friends on Facebook may be subjected to even greater
stress," notes Prof. Lupien.
The researchers point out that participants' heightened
stress levels were not purely down to Facebook; other external factors played a
part. However, they estimated that Facebook was responsible for around 8% of increased
cortisol levels. The researchers also identified a reduction in cortisol levels
among teenagers who supported friends on the social media site by
"liking" their posts or sending them encouraging words.
Higher cortisol
levels in teens may indicate future depression risk
Prof. Lupien and her team say that, while they did not
observe any symptoms of depression among participants, their findings suggest
that teenagers with a higher number of Facebook friends may be at greater
future depression risk.
"[...] Adolescents who present high stress hormone
levels do not become depressed immediately; it can occur later on,"
explains Prof. Lupien. "Some studies have shown that it may take 11 years
before the onset of severe depression in children who consistently had high
cortisol levels."
The authors say further research is warranted to
determine whether their findings can be replicated in children and adults who
use Facebook.
"Developmental analysis could also reveal whether
virtual stress is indeed 'getting over the screen and under the skin' to
modulate neurobiological processes related to adaptation," adds Prof.
Lupien.
Social media: 'no
direct association' with stress
Contrary to the new research, reviewed above, another study
earlier this year strongly suggested social media use is NOT directly
associated with stress. The researches claim that the relationship between
stress and social media use is indirect. It is the social uses of digital
technologies, and the way they increase awareness of distressing events in
others' lives, that can result in users feeling more stress.
Pew is a Washington DC-based nonpartisan think tank. The
aim of their research was to explore whether the use of social media, mobile
phones and the Internet is associated with higher levels of stress.
The study consisted of a phone survey in English and
Spanish and included 2,013 adults. The participants were asked about the extent
to which they feel stress in their lives, using an established scale of stress
called the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The scale is based on answers to 10
questions that assess whether a person feels that their life is overloaded,
unpredictable and uncontrollable.
PSS can be viewed as an assessment of the risk that
people face for psychological disorders related to stress, such as anxiety and
depression, as well as physical illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and
susceptibility to infectious diseases.
"Everything's all fine and dandy" until
something unfortunate happens in the lives of people you care about, says Keith
Hampton, a professor of information at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.
There are various factors that are known to make people
feel more stress, such as the uncertainty of employment and the absence of a
friend or partner with whom to confide. Previous studies have also found that
awareness of stressful events in the lives of others is a major contributor to
people's assessment of their own stress levels. An analysis of survey responses
produced two significant findings that illustrate the complex interplay of
digital technology and stress:
* Overall, frequent Internet and social media users do
not have higher levels of stress
* There are circumstances under which the social use of
digital technology increases awareness of stressful events in the lives of
others. Especially for women, this greater awareness is tied to higher levels
of stress and has been called "the cost of caring."
This study suggests that the information transferred
through social media translates into awareness of all kinds of extra things,
including an awareness of undesirable events in the lives of family, friends
and acquaintances. Whether as a result of social media, or more traditional
forms of interaction, awareness of undesirable events in others' lives
generates increasing psychological stress, and with it, higher risk for the
physical and psychological problems that often accompany stress.
Opting out of social media is not necessarily considered
a better option. Research shows that people who do not have an online presence
tend to be the most disconnected Americans. "They have fewer close
relationships, they have less diverse relationships, they are less connected to
their communities," Hampton concludes.
Threat or
Opportunity
Social media presence is associated with lifestyle
featured with higher exposure to the virtual communication world full of
dangers and opportunities. It is not good or bad by itself. It represents an
entire different playfield, opening the World, but making the participant more
vulnerable to all its trends. Thus, the new safe behavior should be promoted
for the teens, helping them to deal with the basic threats and potentially
distressing factors, fostering virtual world survival skills.
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