Surprise, Surprise: Social Media Use Strongly Linked to Depression

New research shows that using social media can make you depressed.

A new education and public policy study shows that young adults with multiple personality types who start using social media for five hours or more per day are more likely to develop depression.

Researchers at the University of Arkansas, the University of Alabama, and Oregon State University came up with the idea of problematic social comparison. It's bad when you look at other people's lifestyles and feel like you're not living up.

A University of Arkansas press release states that online can enhance negative feelings of oneself and others, which could explain how risk of depression increases with increased social media use. Negative content can increase feelings.

The study suggests that social media reduces opportunities for in- person interactions and activities outside of the home.

The study used a sample of 1,000 American adults between the ages of 18 and 30 from a survey conducted by the dean of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Ohio State University.

The Big Five Personality inventory measures openness towards others, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. According to the analysis done by the University of Alabama and Arkansas, heavy social media users with higher neuroticism quotients were more likely to develop depression.

During a time of technology expansion and integration, findings from this study are important. It's possible that connecting to people virtually increases the risk of miscommunication or misperception that leads to relationship difficulties and the development of mental health problems.

Merrill and her colleagues suggest that we develop a greater awareness of the effects of social media on our emotions.

The mental health outcomes associated with increased social media use over the past three years, when in-person or outside-of-the- home gatherings were particularly risky, are the result of this study.

Studies like this one suggest that we need to take care of our minds and not harm ourselves if we want to keep using social media.

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