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Does television increase depression risk in young adults?

A study that the more television a teenager is exposed to, the more likely they are to develop symptoms of depression in young adulthood.

Research from the University of Pittsburgh in America, have found that the likelihood of experiencing symptoms of depression increase by eight per cent for every hour of television a young adult views as a teen. This figure drops to five per cent for every hour of total media exposure.

The study, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, included more than 4,100 subjects who were not depressed when the research began.

Teenagers were asked about how many hours per week they watched television or videos, played computer games or listened to the radio. The subjects averaged 5.68 hours of media exposure per day, which included 2.3 hours of television, 0.62 hours of videos, 0.41 hours of computer games and 2.34 hours of radio. (The study was conducted before the widespread use of DVDs and the Internet).

After seven years of follow-up, when the subjects were an average age of 21.8, more than seven per cent of them had developed symptoms consistent with depression.

The researchers also found that among teens that had similar exposure rates, young men were more likely than young women to develop symptoms.

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