Yes, social media could be making your kids depressed, study finds
Any potential link between social media use and kids' mental health often comes down to a what-came-first conundrum: does more time glued to TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram make youth more depressed, or are distressed kids just more likely to spend more time on social media?
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A new study suggests it's the former, not the latter, at play.
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Researchers who followed nearly 12,000 children found the more time nine- and 10-year-olds spend engaged with social media, the more depressive symptoms they have a year or two years later.
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Kids' social media use soared, on average, from seven to 73 minutes per day, over the three years of the study, and their depressive symptoms rose by 35 per cent, according to the paper, published in JAMA Network Open.
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'These findings provide evidence that social media may be contributing to the development of depressive symptoms.'
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It's not clear why. However, adolescence can make for a 'critical period of vulnerability during which social media exposure may have lasting implications for mental health,' the researchers wrote.
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'As a father of two young kids, I know that simply telling children to 'get off your phone' doesn't really work,' Nagata said.
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'Parents can lead by example with open, nonjudgmental questions about screen use,' he said. 'Setting screen-free times for the whole family, such as during meals or before bed, can help build healthier habits for everyone, including adults.'
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The researchers used data from an ongoing study spanning 21 sites, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the biggest longitudinal study — meaning it's following young people over multiple time points — of adolescent health, brain and cognitive development in the U.S. The study recruited children aged nine to 10 from October 2016 to October 2018, and followed them through 2022, when they were 12 to 13.
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