Adolescent health brief
“Facebook Depression?” Social Networking Site Use and Depression in Older Adolescents

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the association between social networking site (SNS) use and depression in older adolescents using an experience sample method (ESM) approach.

Methods

Older adolescent university students completed an online survey containing the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depression screen (PHQ) and a weeklong ESM data collection period to assess SNS use.

Results

Participants (N = 190) included in the study were 58% female and 91% Caucasian. The mean age was 18.9 years (standard deviation = .8). Most used SNSs for either <30 minutes (n = 100, 53%) or between 30 minutes and 2 hours (n = 74, 39%); a minority of participants reported daily use of SNS >2 hours (n = 16, 8%). The mean PHQ score was 5.4 (standard deviation = 4.2). No associations were seen between SNS use and either any depression (p = .519) or moderate to severe depression (p = .470).

Conclusions

We did not find evidence supporting a relationship between SNS use and clinical depression. Counseling patients or parents regarding the risk of “Facebook Depression” may be premature.

Section snippets

Methods

This study took place between February and December 2011 at a large public Midwest university. Approval was obtained from the relevant institutional review board.

Results

Of the 373 students enrolled in the targeted class, 273 participants (73%) completed the survey. All participants who completed the survey were invited to enroll in the ESM study; of the 193 students (71%) who participated, three (1.6%) did not respond to any ESM surveys and were excluded from all analyses as nonresponders. Sample characteristics are presented in Table 1.

Among the 190 participants who provided both PHQ and ESM data, responses were received for 93% (95% CI: 92–95%) of the ESM

Conclusions

Using a real-time assessment of Internet use and a validated clinical screening instrument for depression, we found no association between SNS use and depression in a sample of older adolescents. Our findings are similar to those from studies of other communication applications, such as e-mail and chat, which also found no association with depression [5], [6].

The current study is strengthened by both the rigor of the data collection design and the established validity of the measurement

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Greg Downey, Ph.D., Sandon Jurowski, and Rosalind Koff for their assistance with data collection for this project. Funding was provided by the University of Wisconsin Graduate School.

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