Study reveals that depression in girls is linked to higher use of social media:
A study has found that teenage girls who spend more time on social media have a higher risk of depression than boys. The researchers found that almost 40% of girls who spend more than five hours a day on social media show symptoms of depression. However the rate for boys is much lower, less than 15%.
According to new research girls have much-higher rate of depression than boys as they spend more time spend on social media so online bullying and poor sleep are the key culprits for their low mood.
A research was conducted which included interviews with almost 11,000 14-year-old and it was found that two-fifths of girls suffer from online harassment or bullying as compared to one-quarter boys.
Girls were found more likely to have low self-esteem and body weight dissatisfaction and be unhappy with their appearance, than boys.
They also found that two in five girls are on social media at least three hours a day compared to boys. While one in 10 boys do not use social media at all, only 4% of girls said the same.
The experts said that they can still not definitely say that social media use causes poor mental health, although the evidence is starting to point in that direction.
The results of the study show concern about the quickly accumulating evidence that many more girls and young women exhibit a range of mental health problems than boys and young men.
The study found that many girls spend much more time using social media than boys, and also that they are much more likely to show signs of depression linked to their interaction on platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook.