The more young adults log onto Facebook and other social media, the more likely they are to be depressed, says a new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
The study, which will be published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, is the first large study of social media and depression.

In 2014, senior author Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues studied questionnaires from 1,787 American adults ages 19 through 32. The questionnaires were designed to determine social media use and to gauge depression.

The questionnaires asked about the 11 most popular social media platforms at the time: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn.

The participants used social media an average of 61 minutes per day and visited various social media accounts 30 times per week. More than a quarter of the participants were classified as having "high" indicators of depression.

There were significant associations between the use of social media use and depression, whether social media use was measured in terms of total time spent visiting the sites or the frequency of visits.

When compared with those who checked least frequently, volunteers who reported checking social media the most throughout the week had a 2.7-times increased risk of depression.

Similarly, compared to peers who spent less time on social media, participants who spent the most total time on social media throughout the day had 1.7- times the risk.

"Because social media has become such an integrated component of human interaction, it is important for clinicians interacting with young adults to recognize the balance to be struck in encouraging potential positive use, while redirecting from problematic use," said Primack.

In 2015, the Pew Research Center reported that 76 percent of all adults online use social networking sites, with young adults the most likely to visit social media sites.