Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook to blame for depression among students? https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/mind-and-spirit/article-717454?utm_source=jpost.app.apple&utm_medium=share
“Lastly, we find that, after the introduction of Facebook, students were more likely to report experiencing impairments to academic performance resulting from poor mental health. Additional evidence on mechanisms suggests that the results are due to Facebook fostering unfavorable social comparisons.”
THE STUDY combined information from two different datasets – the specific dates on which Facebook was introduced at 775 American colleges and the National College Health Assessment (NCHA), a survey conducted periodically at American colleges.
The researchers built an index based on 15 relevant questions in the NCHA, in which students were asked about their mental health in the past year. They found a statistically significant worsening in mental health symptoms – especially depression and anxiety – after the arrival of Facebook, a rise of 7% in the number of students who had suffered, at least once during the preceding year, from depression so severe that it was difficult for them to function; a rise of 20% in those who reported anxiety disorders; an increase in the percentage of students expected to experience moderate to severe depression from 25% to 27%; a rise in the percentage of students who had experienced impairment to their academic performance due to depression or anxiety from 13% to 16%.
