No Such Thing as Facebook Depression Among Students!
With the increasing popularity of Facebook, rumors are going on about the possible negative influence of Facebook on students’ emotional wellbeing. A study in Journal of Adolescent Health denies this negative effect.
Take aways
- Since Facebook doesn’t seem to cause depressions among young adolescents, there is no need to inform depressed students or their parents about the risk of using the social network site
Study information
The question?
Does (extensive) use of Facebook makes students depressed?
Who?
190 18- to 23-year-old undergraduate students (mean age: 18; 58% female, 42% male; primarily white: 91%)
Where?
United States
How?
Students were first asked to fill out an online questionnaire including questions about their emotions and feelings during the past two weeks. Students who completed this questionnaire received 43 short questionnaires on their cell phone during a one week period. They could reply via SMS. The short questionnaires included questions about students' Internet surfing behavior, the amount of time they spend daily on the Internet in general and on the social network site Facebook in particular.
Facts and findings
- Using Facebook everyday (or even several times a day) did not increase students’ chance of being depressed
