Teenage girls who spend more time on social media have a higher risk of depression than boys, a study has found. Researchers led by Yvonne Kelly from the University College London (UCL) found that almost 40 percent of girls who spend more than five hours a day on social media show symptoms of depression.
However, the rate is much lower for boys, which is less than 15 percent. According to Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the underlying processes of this phenomenon are not well understood. The researchers "still cannot definitely say that social media usage causes poor mental health, although the evidence is starting to point in that direction", The Guardian quoted Wessely as saying.