Oxford Study Finds No Link Between Technology Use and Mental-Health Problems (bbc.com) 45
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: There remains "little association" between technology use and mental-health problems, a study of more than 430,000 10 to 15-year-olds suggests. The Oxford Internet Institute compared TV viewing, social-media and device use with feelings of depression, suicidal tendencies and behavioral problems. It found a small drop in association between depression and social-media use and TV viewing, from 1991 to 2019. There was a small rise in that between emotional issues and social-media use. "We couldn't tell the difference between social-media impact and mental health in 2010 and 2019," study co-author Prof Andrew Przybylski. said. "We're not saying that fewer happy people use more social media. We're saying that the connection is not getting stronger." The paper is published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.
Let me guess (Score:4, Funny)
They did the study online?
Re:Let me guess (Score:4, Funny)
And clearly they didn't visit Slashdot.
Re: Let me guess (Score:1, Redundant)
Subjective interpretations for measurements.
Institutional interest in not bad-mouthing technology in general and deep-pocketed tech companies in particular.
Add in some woke circular reasoning about mental health being a construct of the white whale...err patriarchy...same thing...and you've checked all the boxes.
Re: Let me guess (Score:2)
It's lucky your agenda trumps their agenda. But since they didn't get a +1 insightful for dog whistles, you win.
Re:Let me guess [and color me skeptical] (Score:2)
Mod parent funny.
At least 30 years ago I said that too much computer use is bad for mental health. That was mostly based on observations of the Omega Man troll, but there were a couple of heavy gamers I also noticed (and even though their computer games were quite primitive). I won't say anything about mirrors, because I wouldn't want to project too much. But I have not seen any persuasive counter-evidence since then.
Re: Let me guess (Score:1)
Re:Let me guess (Score:4, Insightful)
yes, on their smart phones, constantly gathering, checking and updating values and collaborating in work chat, 16 hours a day even sitting in bed.
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A question about 'technology' has been whether it causes or exacerbates mental health issues or whether people with mental health issues are more prevalent there because they're drawn to it for some reason.
It's the old chicken and egg problem, that exists in so many hypotheses.
For example I remember some study claiming that gun owners were 4 times (?) more likely getting shot. Some 'smart' people claiming that this definitely proves that if you buy a gun you're increas
Re: Let me guess (Score:5, Informative)
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Nor are you likely to prove causation with a SURVEY. At best you would be able to find a correlation. Without observing behavior you have squat.
The study can hardly be taken seriously, when the authors setup up a dismissive tone early in the paper declaring this to be mass hysteria.
"Although parents and scholars are currently conce
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Though on the latter part. It depends.
Remember how popular it was
Re: Let me guess (Score:1)
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In other news⦠(Score:1)
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"It's a me! Mario!" - Zkiwi34
Social Media (Score:1)
Now do a similar study between Social Media and mental health problems.
Yup, no problems at all (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm sure the tripling in suicide rate [womensmentalhealth.org] in girls aged 10-14 since 2007 is a complete coincidence.
Rob
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I'm sure the tripling in suicide rate [womensmentalhealth.org] in girls aged 10-14 since 2007 is a complete coincidence.
I'm sure there are loads of contrary statistics that can be cherry picked as well.
Maybe other things happened since 2007? Who knows?
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Fox News: "Female suicide rate triples during Obama presidency."
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Re:Yup, no problems at all (Score:5, Interesting)
From your own link:
"Why are suicide rates on the rise in young girls? Thatâ(TM)s the central question, but we do not yet have answers. Some speculate that increased use of social media in this age group may be responsible; however, most believe that there are probably multiple factors at play, including barriers to accessing mental health care and exposure to epidemics of suicide publicized by the media."
Seems like the latter is more likely. Studies have shown that reluctance to get mental health treatment and lack of access to it is an issue for boys as well.
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BBC distorted the results (Score:2)
"Oxford Study Finds No Link Between Technology Use and Mental-Health Problems", vs., "There Is No Evidence That Associations Between Adolescents’ Digital Technology Engagement and Mental Health Problems Have Increased"
Pretty different, right?
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FTFS
"We couldn't tell the difference between social-media impact and mental health in 2010 and 2019," study co-author Prof Andrew Przybylski. said. "We're not saying that fewer happy people use more social media. We're saying that the connection is not getting stronger."
This Confirms It! (Score:2)
This completely confirms my already held beliefs. There is no doubt this is true because of that!
What I'm happy to know is that every single time I felt depressed, it had nothing to do with my friends I've met on the internet. It really was my mom.
--
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. - Abraham Lincoln
No surprise there (Score:2)
I always knew that using my flint axe and spear had no bearing on my mental state. The wooly mammoths OTOH...
Oh, they meant computer technology....
Seriously, technology has been with us since before we were human (if fossil records of other sapians is anything to go by) and even in the 19th century telegraph operators had an early form of twitter between each other. Humans are very adaptable and as with all things in life - everything in moderation.
ITT no-one who has read the paper (Score:2)
Just like the idiots at the BBC.
The paper actually states there has been no measureable *change* in the level of association between technology use and mental-health problems .
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Incidents of mental health issues have definitely increases over that time span Whether or not some of those mental health issues can be attributed to technology usage is unclear.
Certainly the U.S. Congress thinks social media can manipulate people, as they cite the 2016 Presidential election and the January 6th Capital riots. Spurring them to have social media companies censor their content in
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> January 6th Capital riots
there were no January 6th Capital riots
so that's not very convincing "evidence"
Different, better problems. (Score:3)
There *is* such a thing as "facebook depression". However, looking at it from a birds-eye perspective, I'd say that given the choice of a "facebook depression" and some other sort of depression brought about in real life, I'd probably chose the former. If social media is a problem, that's actually a sign that you are in the first world, not having to deal with famine, tribal war or something other. Such things come with their very own special set of mental health problems.
So, by and large, the conclusion makes sense: The amount of mental health problems doesn't rise, it shifts. And probably for the better. We all know how videogames and technology driven escapism can make life more fun, or at least bearable, when you're in a rut.
Just a thought.
I wholeheartedly disagree (Score:1)
Around the US election, I was able to very clearly note the negative impact being online had on myself and my wife.
Sample set of two, I know, but anecdotal evidence in my monkey sphere and the net is overwhelming. Add that to all the scientific studies that agree with my observation and it's getting VERY hard to not immediately think Oxford is in someone's pocket.
Which brings me to the question of "Is Oxford trying to make itself irrelevant academically?"
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"There Is No Evidence That Associations Between Adolescents’ Digital Technology Engagement and Mental Health Problems Have Increased"
The study doesn't say there isn't a link, it says that it hasn't changed. BBC claims the study says there is no link.
Stone Cold Stupid (Score:2)
WTF? Seriously, granted for most use of the internet is as dangerous as visiting the library.
Not for everyone.
If anyone wants to claim bullying, etc. etc. has no affect, then they are just plain stupid.
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But the fact that the bullying is done via the Internet makes no difference to an equivalent being done in real life.
The problem is the bullying... not the Internet nature of it.
The internet - in and of itself - doesn't make you depressed, happy, suicidal, etc. Being around, talking to and being trapped with shitty people does, whatever the medium.
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I would say no different from "real life" is just a wrong way to look at it. First of all Internet use is part of "real life", and like other activities it has had a transformative effect on bullying.
For example a bully in real life can deny you access to your favorite physical places, but it doesn't matter when you're not near those places. A cyber bully is someone it's not enough to get physically away from; the way they curtail your life affects you all the time.