Pressure To Be Online All Day Linked To Poor Sleep And Depression Among Teens

Nowadays, teenagers are being pressurised to be online all the time. It is impacting their sleep quality and making them feel depressed and anxious.

Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center report stated that almost 92 percent of teenagers are trying to go online everyday, while 24 percent of them are "almost constantly" online through smartphones. The most popular and frequently used social media platform is Facebook, followed by Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.

Hence, various studies have helped to look at the online trend and the influence of social media use on people's health and well-being.

Dr Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott of the University of Glasgow also examined the links identified among sleep, depression, and social media use. By giving 467 teens questions on the use of the social media involving "sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and emotional investment on social media use", the researchers were able to find out the links.

Hence, it was discovered that those who invested more time and emotions in the social media suffer from "poorer sleep quality, low self-esteem, higher anxiety and depression".

Most teenagers tended to feel pressurised to respond immediately to messages or posts, according to BBC News.

"Adolescence can be a period of increased vulnerability for the onset of depression and anxiety, and poor sleep quality may contribute to this. It is important that we understand how social media use relates to these. Evidence is increasingly supporting a link between social media use and well being, particularly during adolescence, but the causes of this are unclear," Dr. Woods said in a press release.

However, the study does not indicate that social media is a negative activity. With some discipline, the use of the social media can be reduced.

"Turn off the devices and the blue light, stop checking emails and social media, and allow yourself time to finish your day. Sleep is important, so put your phone away," Woods told Live Science.

"We all do it. However, we need to think about how and when we are online."

The study was presented on Sept.11 at the BPS Developmental and Social Psychology Section annual conference in England, according to hngn.