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Link Between Social Media and Depression Stronger In Teen Girls Than Boys, Study Says (cnn.com)

According to a new study published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, the link between social media use and depressive symptoms in 14-year-olds may be much stronger for girls than boys. CNN reports: Among teens who use social media the most -- more than five hours a day -- the study showed a 50% increase in depressive symptoms among girls versus 35% among boys, when their symptoms were compared with those who use social media for only one to three hours daily. Yet the study, conducted in the UK, showed only an association between social media use and symptoms of depression, which can include feelings of unhappiness, restlessness or loneliness. The findings cannot prove that frequent social media use caused depressive symptoms, or vice versa. The study also described other factors, such as lack of sleep and cyberbullying, that could help explain this association.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on 10,904 14-year-olds who were born between 2000 and 2002 in the United Kingdom. The data, which came from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, included information from questionnaires on the teens' depressive symptoms and social media use. Depressive symptoms were recorded as scores, and the researchers looked at which teens had high or low scores. They found that on average, girls had higher depressive symptom scores compared with boys. The researchers also found that girls reported more social media use than boys; 43.1% of girls said they used social media for three or more hours per day, versus 21.9% of boys. The data showed that for teens using social media for three to five hours, 26% of girls and 21% of boys had depressive symptom scores higher than those who used social media for only about one to three hours a day.
As for the gender gap, Yvonne Kelly, first author of the study and professor of epidemiology and public health, believes it has to do with "the types of things that girls and boys do online."

"In the UK, girls tend to more likely use things like Snapchat or Instagram, which is more based around physical appearance, taking photographs and commenting on those photographs," she said. "I think it has to do with the nature of use."

7 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Emotional by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If females are supposedly more emotional than man, why do men commit much more suicides?

    Men are more successful at suicide. One more thing that men are better at! Go men!

    "Nothing stands in your way, when you're a boy."
    -- David Bo(y)wie

  2. So sick of fucking gender gap by 2ms · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everything in the fucking world is about this stupid fucking gender gap shit. Is there not a single site I can go to which isn't infected with this crap? If there's a "gender gap" and females are more negatively affected then it's a disaster and something needs to be done. If there's a "gender gap" and males are doing worse then there's no problem at all and maybe even a sign of progress. What a bunch of toxic shit. Let's just do what we can to help HUMANS. Stop dividing everyone, pitting everyone against each other, and generally finding any conceivable way we can to create civil war. Jesus christ people. I've had it.

    1. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think what this study illustrates is that there are intrinsic gender differences that ought to be better understood and explored, rather than suppressed, ignored, or dismissed as products of socialization.

    2. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This post is just incoherent.

      Let's just do what we can to help HUMANS.

      There are two choices here:

      1. There's no difference at all between men and women. Therefore any gaps are due to bias and those need fixing.

      2. There are differences in wich case it's really stupid to pretend they don't exist.

      . I've had it.

      Bye bye then. Go find another forum which doesn't hurt your feelings with scientific studies.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  3. That can't be right! by grasshoppa · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I've been assured that gender is merely a social construct. If so, how is there a gender gap?

    Shitlord scientists using their science...literally hitlers.

    LITERALLY.

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    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  4. Re:Emotional by quenda · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Women are on average more neurotic than men. James Damore got fired for saying this.

    Women are on average higher in neuroticism, one of the Big-5 personality traits.

    This is unfortunately named, as it is not the same as being neurotic.

  5. Re:Emotional by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also, and this is the reason why he got fired, that difference is minor and the author of the study he cited for it has said publicly that the conclusion it affects women's performance in or preference for engineering jobs is unwarranted.

    It's a very old argument. It's odd that Damore didn't discover it and read the extensive debunkings that have been written over the centuries, and particularly in the modern era. It's almost as if he had a conclusion and googled evidence to support it.

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