Sad-Face Emoji: Social Media Use Associated with Depression in Adults

Researchers seem to have found that social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok may be related to an increased likelihood of depressive symptoms in adults. Past research seemed to suggest that social media use was associated with depression for children and young adults, but had not investigated that relationship to older adults. Thus, this study set out to characterize the association between social media use and depressive symptoms.

Researchers recruited 8,045 participants from 13 waves of internet surveys that were conducted between May 2020 and May 2021. The average age of participants in the sample was 56. Participants were excluded from this study if they scored higher than a 5 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (indicating high depression) in the first wave. Participants then completed measures on health, demographic features, and the use of each social media platform.

Researchers found several interesting findings: Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok were significantly associated with greater risk of increase in depressive symptoms. Researchers also found that for high TikTok and Snapchat usage, there was an association with depressive symptoms among those 35 years or better, but not among those younger than 35 years. On the other hand, high Facebook usage indicated an association with depressive symptoms among those younger than 35 years, but not among those 35 and better.

Considering their findings, the researchers believe they identified an association between type of social media use and varying types of depression levels, that is different for younger vs. older age groups. They believe future research should focus on this relationship between social media use and mental health, especially for older adults.

 

Source:

Perlis RH, Green J, Simonson M, et al. Association between social media use and self-reported symptoms of depression in US adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(11):e2136113. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.36113

 

Inspiring Next Practices: 2019 Innovative Research on Aging Award RecipientsRecent Research That Can Transform Aging Services

Get an overview of the most relevant research published in the past year from the 2019 Innovative Research on Aging Awards.

Download FREE Copy
twitterlinkedinFacebookmail

    Add insight to your inbox

    Get the latest InvestigAge articles and research emailed to you each month. Just complete the form below to subscribe.

    Thank you!

    You are now subscribed to InvestigAge.
    A confirmation has been sent to the email you provided.

    Continue to Website Share with a Friend
    Close