Low views, no likes, trolls, bullying…social media is pretty depressing, especially for young adults. In fact, says a study from the University of Pittsburgh, negative experiences on social media carry more weight than positive interactions when it comes to the likelihood of young people reporting depressive symptoms. The finding is reported in the journal ‘Depression and Anxiety’.
Says lead author Dr Brian Primack, “We found that positive experiences on social media were not related or only very slightly linked to lower depressive symptoms. However, negative experiences were strongly and consistently associated with higher depressive symptoms. Our findings may encourage people to pay closer attention to their online exchanges. Moving forward, these results could assist scientists in developing ways to intervene and counter the negative effects while strengthening the positive ones.”
Dr Primack and his team surveyed 1,179 full-time students between the ages of 18 to 30 about their social media use and experiences. The participants also completed a questionnaire to assess their depressive symptoms. The researchers found that each 10% increase in positive experiences on social media was associated with a 4% decrease in odds of depressive symptoms. However, each 10% increase in negative experiences was associated with a 20% increase in the odds of depressive symptoms, a statistically significant finding. The study also found that compared with men, women had 50% higher odds of having depressive symptoms. Also, importantly, cyberbullying occured not only among adolescents, but also among adults.
Researchers hope that health care professionals working with depressed patients could suggest strategies to improve the quality of online experiences, such as restricting time spent on social media to reduce the number of negative interactions and ‘unfriending’ people or groups that tend to enable negative experiences. Universities, workplaces and community spaces, especially, could use the findings to increase awareness around positive and negative social media experiences.