welcome
torontosun

torontosun

Technology

Technology

Social media use predicts future depression in tweens, new study shows

torontosun
Summary
Nutrition label

83% Informative

Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco examined social media use and depressive symptoms among tweens over a three-year period.

The study followed nearly 12,000 preteens over three years starting at age 9 to 10 .

Social media use jumped during the tween years , and depression symptoms followed.

The lead author of the study, Jason Nagata , spoke to The Washington Post about his findings.

Sleep, in particular, is critical for mental health, physical health and brain development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids put phones away an hour before bedtime.

Parents need to create a plan which includes evaluating their own screen use.

Research has also shown that when people are distracted by screens while eating, “they tend to overeat, even when they’re not hungry,” he says.

VR Score

81

Informative language

77

Neutral language

74

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

55

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

External references

8

https://www.healthing.ca/https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A//torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows&text=Social%20media%20use%20predicts%20future%20depression%20in%20tweens%2C%20new%20study%20shows&via=https://www.reddit.com/submit?kind=link&url=https%3A//torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows&title=https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A//torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-showshttps://www.reddit.com/submit?kind=link&url=https%3A//torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows&title=Social%20media%20use%20predicts%20future%20depression%20in%20tweens%2C%20new%20study%20showshttps://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows&media=https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/torontosun/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-1345853169-e1749818209662.jpg?quality=100&strip=allhttps://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?canonicalUrl=https://torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows&title=Social%20media%20use%20predicts%20future%20depression%20in%20tweens%2C%20new%20study%20showshttps://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://torontosun.com/health/social-media-use-predicts-future-depression-in-tweens-new-study-shows

Affiliate links

no affiliate links