Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Depress Anxiety. 2021 May;38(5):563-570. doi: 10.1002/da.23117. Epub 2020 Nov 22.
Use of social networking in later childhood and adolescence has risen quickly. The consequences of these changes for mental health are debated but require further empirical evaluation.
Using data from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (n = 1,156), duration of social networking use was measured annually at four time points from 11.9 to 14.8 years of age (≥1 h/day indicating high use). Cross-sectional and prospective relationships between social networking use and depressive and anxiety symptoms were examined.
In adjusted (age, socioeconomic status, prior mental health history) cross-sectional analyses, females with high social networking use had greater odds of depressive (odds ratio [OR]: 2.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.58-2.91) and anxiety symptoms (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.32-3.00) than those that used a few minutes at most, while males with high social networking use had 1.60 greater odds of reporting depressive symptoms (95% CI: 1.09-2.35). For females, an increased odds of depressive symptoms at age 14.8 was observed for high social networking use at one previous wave and at two or three previous waves, even after adjustment (OR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.11-2.78; OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.27-3.37, respectively) compared to no wave of high use.
Our results suggest weak to moderate increased odds of depression and anxiety in girls and boys with high social networking use versus low/normal use. These findings indicate that prevention programs for early mental health problems might benefit from targeting social networking use in early adolescence.
儿童和青少年后期使用社交网络的情况迅速增加。这些变化对心理健康的影响仍存在争议，但需要进一步的实证评估。
本研究使用儿童到青春期过渡研究（Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study，CATS）的数据，从 11.9 岁到 14.8 岁，每年在四个时间点测量社交网络使用的持续时间（每天≥1 小时表示高使用）。分析了社交网络使用与抑郁和焦虑症状的横断面和前瞻性关系。
在调整后的（年龄、社会经济地位、既往心理健康史）横断面分析中，高社交网络使用的女性出现抑郁（比值比 [OR]：2.15；95%置信区间 [CI]：1.58-2.91）和焦虑症状（OR：1.99；95% CI：1.32-3.00）的可能性高于仅使用几分钟的女性，而高社交网络使用的男性出现抑郁症状的可能性增加了 1.60 倍（95% CI：1.09-2.35）。对于女性，在前一次或两次及以上波次中高社交网络使用与 14.8 岁时抑郁症状的可能性增加相关，即使在调整后也是如此（OR：1.76；95% CI：1.11-2.78；OR：2.06，95% CI：1.27-3.37），与无高使用波次相比。
本研究结果表明，与低/正常使用相比，高社交网络使用的女孩和男孩出现抑郁和焦虑的可能性略有增加。这些发现表明，针对早期心理健康问题的预防计划可能受益于针对青少年早期社交网络使用的目标。
