Is adolescent internet use a risk factor for the development of depression symptoms or vice-versa?

The extent to which digital media use by adolescents contributes to poor mental health, or vice-versa, remains unclear. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the strength and direction of associations between adolescent internet use and the development of depression symptoms using a longitu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological medicine Vol. 53; no. 14; pp. 6773 - 6779
Main Authors: Fitzpatrick, Caroline, Lemieux, Annie, Smith, Jonathan, West, Greg L., Bohbot, Véronique, Asbridge, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2023
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescent development
Adolescents
Age
Boys
Child development
Children
Children & youth
Cronbach's alpha
Depression - epidemiology
Digital media
Female
Females
Girls
Humans
Internet
Internet - statistics & numerical data
Internet Use - statistics & numerical data
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental depression
Mental health
Missing data
Original
Original Article
Quebec - epidemiology
Questionnaires
Risk Factors
Self Report
Sex Factors
Symptoms
Teenagers
Youth
Quebec
Canada
Quebec Canada
internet use
digital media
depression
longitudinal modeling
Adolescents
ISSN:0033-2917, 1469-8978, 1469-8978
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The extent to which digital media use by adolescents contributes to poor mental health, or vice-versa, remains unclear. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the strength and direction of associations between adolescent internet use and the development of depression symptoms using a longitudinal modeling approach. We also examine whether associations differ for boys and girls. Data are drawn from ( = 1547) participants followed for the Quebec longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD 1998-2020). Youth self-reported internet use in terms of the average hours of use per week at the ages of 13, 15, and 17. Youth also self-reported depression symptoms at the same ages. After testing sex-invariance, random intercepts cross-lagged panel models stratified by sex, revealed that internet use by girls was associated with significant within-person (time-varying) change in depression symptoms. Girl's internet use at age 13 was associated with increased depression symptoms at age 15 (ß = 0.12) and internet use at age 15 increased depression at age 17 (ß = 0.10). For boys, internet use was not associated with significant time varying change in depression symptoms. The present findings support the hypothesis that internet use by adolescents can represent a significant risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms, particularly in girls.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:0033-2917
1469-8978
1469-8978
DOI:10.1017/S0033291723000284