Millennials generation: critically exposed to depression and anxiety

Medical Adina Camarasu
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Using multiple social media platforms is associated with depression and anxiety, especially when talking about ‘millennials generation’, according to a study conducted by experts from the University of Pittsburgh, United States.

The analysis was recently published online and will appear in the April issue of the journal ‘Computers in Human Behavior’, reports Science Daily.

The research was conducted in the United States and scientists have found that young adults who said they were constantly using multiple social media platforms are three times more likely to develop depression and anxiety compared to their peers who did not use such platforms.

In addition, researchers have noted that this trend is maintained even if the total time spent on social networks is reduced.

The analysis was conducted on 1,787 adults aged between 19 and 32 years. In the questionnaires, were included eleven of the most popular social media platforms – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn.

People who are using between seven and eleven such networks presented a higher risk – 3,1 % – to suffer from depressive symptoms. It was also found that young people using multiple platforms were more likely to exhibit a high level of anxiety – 3.3 % more stressed.

The study could not express with certainty whether the individuals suffering from depression or anxiety are seeking to use multiple social media platforms or if depression occurs after their exposure to the online environment.

‘This association is sufficiently strong for skilled clinicians to ask their patients who experience depression and anxiety if they are using multiple social media platforms and to inform them that social media itself could be the cause of their symptoms’, stated a leading researcher of this study.