Online Social Integration and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents

Abstract

Social integration is known to be beneficial for mental health. However, it is not clear whether this applies to online as well as offline relationships. In this paper, we explore the association between online friendship and symptoms of depression among adolescents. We combine data from the popular social networking site with survey data on high school students (N = 144) and find that integration into the online network is a protective factor against depression. We also find that not all online connections are equally important: friendship ties with students from the same schools are stronger associated with depression than outside ties. In addition to friendship ties, we explore the effect of online interaction (“likes”). Overall, our results suggest that online relationships are associated with depression as well as offline friendship. However, the effect of more distant online connections is limited, while immediate social environment and peer relationships at school are more important.