Social media use may not affect mental health, says study

Contrary to the ongoing beliefs, use of social media may not affect mental health, suggests a new study. So far, no evidence has been found supporting the connection between amount of time spent on social media and mental health problems, as per the research.

"We do not deny the potential for some online behaviours to be associated with mental health problems. But the research focuses on the behaviour of individuals rather than assuming social media to be the root cause of all socio-personal problems", Chloe Berryman, lead author of the study and researcher at University of Central Florida in the US.

The study that was publised in Psychiatric Quarterly questioned 467 young adults and analysed their reponses. The questions included amount of time spent on social media, the importance it holds in their lives and the ways in which they used social media.

Current mental health status, social anxiety levels, relationship shared with parents and the amount of social support were also among the parameters analysed in the study.

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As per the finding, the only trend that worried the researchers was vaguebooking or social media posts that were written in order to grab attention and concern of readers and had no actual or clear information.

Young people who wrote such posts were associated with loneliness and had more suicidal thoughts than others.

"Vaguebooking was slightly predictive of suicidal ideation, suggesting this particular behaviour could be a warning sign for serious issues", said Berryman.