Teens, Television, and Depression
A new study suggests that the
more teenagers watch television, the more likely they are to develop
depression as young adults. But the extent to which TV may or may not
be to blame is a question that the study leaves unanswered.
The
researchers used a national long-term survey of adolescent health to
investigate the relationship between media use and depression. They
based their findings on more than four thousand adolescents who were
not depressed when the survey began in nineteen ninety-five.
As part of the survey, the young
people were asked how many hours of television or videos they watched
daily. They were also asked how often they played computer games and
listened to the radio.
Media use totaled an average of five and one-half hours a day. More than two hours of that was spent watching TV.
Seven years later, in two
thousand two, more than seven percent of the young people had signs of
depression. The average age at that time was twenty-one.
Brian Primack at the University
of Pittsburgh medical school was the lead author of the new study. He
says every extra hour of television meant an eight percent increase in
the chances of developing signs of depression.
