For today's youth, taking a selfie is like second nature. But their connections with social media may be skewing their view of their world.A new study shows frequent social media use and television viewing is linked to depression in teens.
Researchers followed almost 4,000 Canadians aged 12 to 16 over four years. Every year, students completed a survey about the amount of time they'd spent in front of digital screens and the specific type of activity they had engaged in -- social media, television, video-gaming or computer use. Surveys also asked them to self-score their depressive symptoms.
"Television and social media, more than any other types of media, expose young people to content and images that accentuates the unrealistically positive and idealized presentation of other young people," Conrod said."Kids form unrealistic expectations of what is normal, which makes them feel like they are not measuring up."
The solution? Rather than telling kids to avoid screens, researchers suggested teaching them how to be savvy digital users. Screen time should not equal alone time. Engage with your children when they are using screens. Offer to watch their television shows or play their video games. This way their screen time becomes a more social event, where you have the chance to discuss the content.
Only teens? 🤨
Yeah, no it's not. SciShow explored this option in a video a few weeks ago.