New study disputes link between Facebook and depression

Studies have long linked Facebook to negative side-effects, including depression among adolescents. 

However, new research from the University of Wisconsin has found no link between social media use and the likelihood of depression. 

The researchers surveyed 190 University of Wisconsin-Madison students, all between the ages of 18 and 23. 

The students were divided into three groups depending on how much time they spend on Facebook. High use was determined as spending two hours or more on the site over the week. 

The participants later completed a survey which screens for symptoms of clinical depression.

Findings released on Tuesday concluded that the students who spent the most time on Facebook were no more likely to be depressed than those who spent just a few minutes a day on the site. 

Last year the American Academy of Pediatrics warned that teenagers can suffer from 'Facebook depression' after becoming obsessed with the social networking website.

According to AAP, being shunned on a social networking website can be more harmful than if a child is ignored by their friends in real-life.

AAP lead researcher Dr Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-based paediatrician, said that social media had the power to 'interfere with homework, sleep and physical activity' among the young. 

Lauren Jelenchick, who led the latest study with Dr Megan Moreno, told the Hufington Post she didn’t believe there was enough research to support a link between Facebook and depression. 

‘If you have a teen and they're spending a lot of time on Facebook but their grades are fine and they're involved in school and they have a good group of friends ... that's not necessarily a bad thing.'

After the AAP report last year, Dr Moreno said parents should not think that the site 'is going to somehow infect their kids with depression'.

*From The Mail