Real-life closeness of social media contacts and depressive symptoms among university students |
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| Authors: | Ariel Shensa Jaime E Sidani César G Escobar-Viera Kar-Hai Chu Nicholas D Bowman Jennifer M Knight |
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| Institution: | 1. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;2. Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USAshensaa@upmc.edu;4. Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;5. Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTObjective: To examine the association between degree of real-life closeness of social media (SM) contacts and depressive symptoms. Participants: Students ages 18–30 (N = 1124) were recruited in August 2016. Methods: Participants completed an online survey assessing SM use and depression. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between real-life closeness of SM contacts and depressive symptoms. Results: After controlling for covariates, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had no face-to-face relationship was associated with a 9% increase in odds of depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13). However, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had a close face-to-face relationship was associated with a 7% decrease in depressive symptoms (AOR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89–0.97). Conclusions: Having no in-person relationship with SM contacts is associated with increased depressive symptoms; however, having close in-person relationships with SM contacts is associated with decreased depressive symptoms. |
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| Keywords: | Depression social media university students young adults PROMIS friendship |
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