Study says that increased time spent on social networking sites lead to psychological stress
Posted on: 24/Jul/2015 11:49:50 AM
According to a new study conducted by researchers at Ottawa Public Health in Canada, high usage of social media like Facebook or Twitter result in psychological damage in teens. The study was published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking.
The experiment was conducted on students studying in grade 7 through 12. Data on the students was available with the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. About 25 percent of these students used social networking sites fir over 2 hours a day. Results showed that this high usage resulted in high psychological stress, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts.
According to researchers, ‘Adolescents who use the social networks for longer times also reported an unmet need for mental health support... These findings send an important message to parents and suggest an opportunity to increase mental health support service offerings on these sites... This is where we see social networking sites, which may be a problem for some, also being a solution... Since teens are on the sites, it is the perfect place for public health and service providers to reach out and connect with this vulnerable population and provide health promotion systems and supports.’
