Feeling More Informed About Health May Help Teens With Depression

Research shows that health information from credible sources can help teens battle depression.

A new study found that learning about health from trusted sources may help teens better care for themselves and decrease depressive symptoms.

The research team also found that trust played a role in determining whether learning health information improved depression. The more the adolescents believed the source to be credible, the more likely they were to experience less depression.

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‘Adolescents whose mothers had a higher education level felt more depressed than those whose fathers had a higher level of education.’
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Participants of the study were 310 adolescents from elementary, middle, and high schools in North China. They provided data on health information, including its quality and if the source was credible, recently consumed by them.

They were also questioned about their health - their depression symptoms and if consuming health information led to behavioral changes.

Findings showed that older participants and those with higher GPAs were more likely to be depressed. Zhang believes that these students felt more pressure to succeed the longer they were in school and the better their grades were.

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Results also showed that adolescents whose mothers had a higher education level felt more depressed than those whose fathers had a higher level of education.

Bu Zhong, author, described this as the tiger mom effect.

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"These findings don't mean that a mom's education causes their kids' depression, but one interpretation could be that it may not be a good idea for moms to dominate their children's school life and push them too hard," Zhong said.

The participants stated that they trusted traditional media (TV, radio, and newspapers) over online content. However, only social media or website content resulted in actual behavioral changes.

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Zhong states, "The kids weren't purposefully misleading when they said they didn't trust information online, even though that information was ultimately linked with lower depression."

"Their parents and teachers probably told them to be wary of information found online or on social media. But our research found that online content has a strong impact on their health behavior and depression mitigation strategies, which are not found in the traditional media content."

He adds that websites and social media have the potential to powerfully affect adolescent health.

In conclusion, the study suggests that health information, if used strategically, can reduce depression in teens and adolescents.

"Our research is interested in providing long-term health outcomes, not just temporary relief," Zhong said.

He adds that they are looking for anything besides drugs and therapy that can help depressed people with their depression.

Source-Medindia