Co-rumination buffers the link between social anxiety and depressive symptoms in early adolescence

Objectives: We examined whether co-rumination with online friends buffered the link between social anxiety and depressive symptoms over time in a community sample. Methods: In a sample of 526 participants (358 girls; Mage = 14.05) followed at three time points, we conducted a latent cross-lagged model with social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and co-rumination, controlling for friendship stability and friendship quality, and adding a latent interaction between social anxiety and co-rumination predicting depressive symptoms. Results: Social anxiety predicted depressive symptoms, but no direct links between social anxiety and co-rumination emerged. Instead, co-rumination buffered the link between social anxiety and depressive symptoms for adolescents with higher but not lower levels of social anxiety. Conclusions: These findings indicate that co-rumination exerted a positive influence on interpersonal relationships by diminishing the influence from social anxiety on depressive symptoms over time

Social Media and Depressive Symptoms in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review

Concerns are increasingly raised in academic and lay literature about the impact of the internet on young people’s well-being. This systematic review examined empirical research on the relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms in the child and adolescent population. A systematic search of Medline, PsycInfo and Embase databases yielded eleven eligible studies. Relevant results were extracted from each study, with a total sample of 12,646. Analysis revealed a small but statistically significant correlation between social media use and depressive symptoms in young people. However, studies varied widely in methods, sample size and results, making the clinical significance of these findings nuanced. Over half of the studies were cross-sectional, while those of longitudinal design were of limited duration. This review justifies further investigation of this phenomenon, with a need for consensus on variables and measurement

The Association Between Internet User Characteristics and Dimensions of Internet Addiction Among Greek Adolescents

This study examined how internet users' psychological characteristics, amount of internet use and demographic factors contribute to particular dimensions of internet addiction. The sample consisted of 384 adolescents, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years. Participants were asked to complete the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), measures of Locus of Control, Depression, Loneliness, Self-esteem, and Social Anxiety as well as an inventory that included demographic factors and questions about the amount of Internet use. Results revealed significant associations between variables and different sets of predictors across the four dimensions of Internet use behaviour identified in the study. However, locus of control, depression, and amount of internet use were significant predictors of all internet addiction dimensions. Recommendations are provided on how researchers can strengthen the field of research concerning how internet addiction is manifested and which adolescent internet users are more susceptible to different manifestations of addiction

Traditional media use and depression in the general population: evidence for a non-linear relationship

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Depression is the most common metal disorder linked to media use. Theoretically, the relationship between depression and media use has been conceptualized as a linear function. However, depressive symptoms vary from dysphoric moods to severely depressed states with major social impairment, thus providing a strong alternative rationale for a non-linear relationship. This paper reports on findings from a representative telephone survey of the general German population (N = 2002) including both the respondents’ motivation behind spending time using traditional media and a measure to screen for depression in the general population. The curve-fitting methodology revealed that the associations between depression and media use are described by a cubic growth function for newspapers, the radio, magazines, and books; associations with television use were positive, but more complex. The relationship between depression and media use should be modeled as a polynomial function for more accurate estimations in the future.status: Published onlin