A new study suggests that teens are being pressured to be online 24/7 on their social media accounts and it's already affecting their sleep quality and making them feel more depressed and anxious.
The Pew Research Center released a report earlier this year stating that almost 92 percent of the teens go online daily and that 24 percent of them are "almost constantly" online due to the availability of the smartphones. Facebook remains as the most popular and frequently used social media platform, followed by Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Due to this trend, different studies have looked at the effects of social media use on people's health and well-being.
A new study conducted by Dr Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott of the University of Glasgow focused on finding a link among sleep, depression, and social media use. They asked 467 teens to answer a questionnaire to get data on their social media use during the night. The participants also underwent a series of tests to measure sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and emotional investment on social media use.
The analysis showed that those who spend more time staying online and are more emotionally invested in social media are at higher risk of poorer sleep quality, low self-esteem, higher anxiety and depression. Many of the teens felt pressured to respond immediately to messages or posts, according to BBC News.
"Adolescence can be a period of increased vulnerability for the onset of depression and anxiety, and poor sleep quality may contribute to this. It is important that we understand how social media use relates to these. Evidence is increasingly supporting a link between social media use and well being, particularly during adolescence, but the causes of this are unclear," Dr. Woods said in a press release.
The researchers clarified that their study doesn't stress that social media use is a negative activity. The negative effects can be lessened by discipline.
"Turn off the devices and the blue light, stop checking emails and social media, and allow yourself time to finish your day. Sleep is important, so put your phone away," Woods told Live Science.
"We all do it. However, we need to think about how and when we are online."
The study was presented on Sept.11 at the BPS Developmental and Social Psychology Section annual conference in England.
