Clinical Depression Research (OCR GCSE Psychology): Revision Note

Depression core study: Tandoc, Ferrucci & Duffy (2015)

Background

• The transition from school to university can be stressful for young adults and may increase vulnerability to depression

• Contributing factors include:

  • leaving home and gaining independence

  • forming new friendships and relationships

  • academic pressure and financial stress

• Wright et al. (2012) found a positive correlation between time spent on Facebook and depression

• Other studies, such as Jelenchick et al. (2013), found no correlation, suggesting mixed results

• The social rank theory of depression suggests that when people compare themselves to others and feel inferior or ‘subordinate’, this can lead to depression

• Tandoc et al. proposed that Facebook envy (comparing oneself to others’ posts and feeling worse as a result) may explain how Facebook use is linked to depression

Aim

• To investigate whether Facebook use could predict depression using the social rank theory

• To explore whether Facebook envy and feelings of subordination could explain the link between Facebook use and depression

Hypotheses

1. Heavy Facebook users would report higher levels of envy than light users

2. Users with a large number of Facebook friends would report higher envy than those with fewer friends

3. Those who reported higher envy would also show more symptoms of depression

Method

• Type of study:

  • Online self-report survey conducted using a questionnaire

  • Participants answered questions about Facebook use, envy, and depression

• Sample:

  • 854 students from a large Midwestern university in the USA were invited to participate

  • 736 participants chose to complete the questionnaire (86% response rate)

    • 68% were female, and the average age was 19 years

Procedure:

Facebook use

• Participants reported their average hours per day spent on Facebook

• They rated how often they performed the following activities on a five-point scale (1 = never, 5 = very frequently):

  • writing a status

  • posting photos

  • comment on a friend's post

  • read the 'newsfeed'

  • reading a friend's status update

  • view a friend's photo

  • viewing friends’ timelines

• The last four activities were called ‘Facebook surveillance’, as they involved observing others rather than posting

Envy

• Participants rated eight statements on a five-point Likert scale, indicating how much they agreed with each one

• Example items included:

  • 'I generally feel inferior to others'

  • 'It is frustrating to see people always having a good time'

  • 'Many of my friends are happier than me'

  • 'Life is fair' (reverse scored)

Depression

• Depression was measured using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)

  • This assessed depression symptoms such as sleep, appetite, and mood

Results

• Hypothesis 1 was supported

  • Heavy Facebook users reported stronger feelings of envy

• Hypothesis 2 was not supported

  • The number of Facebook friends was not related to envy

• Hypothesis 3 was supported:

  • Facebook envy was a significant positive predictor of depression

• No direct link was found between time on Facebook and depression

• Facebook surveillance indirectly affected depression by increasing envy

Conclusions

• Using Facebook does not directly cause depression

• However, Facebook envy can lead to depression

• Surveillance use (viewing rather than posting) can lessen depression if it doesn’t lead to envy

• Social rank theory helps explain how feelings of inferiority and envy contribute to depression among college students

Criticisms

• Cultural bias

  • All participants were from one U.S. university, which may affect how they use and interact with Facebook

  • Results may not generalise to students from different cultural or educational backgrounds

• Age bias

  • Only college-aged students were studied

  • Findings may not apply to older or younger Facebook users

• Social desirability bias

  • The study relied on self-report data, meaning participants may have under-reported envy or depression to appear more socially acceptable

  • This could have biased the results

• Construct validity

  • Complex emotions like envy and depression were measured using simple rating scales, which may not capture their full depth or context