Teens Who Listen to Music More Prone to Depression?

By Alex Groberman, Wed, April 06, 2011

According to a study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, teens who spend an increased amount of time listening to music are more likely to suffer from depression than teens who spend their time reading.

In order to come to their conclusions, researchers utilized 106 subjects for the purposes of their study. Over a two-month time span, researchers contacted the participants several dozen times and asked for them to report on what types of media they were using in their spare time. Options included TV, music, video games, Internet, magazines and books.

Apparently, the teens who spent the majority of their time listening to music were 8.3 times more likely to be depressed. On the flip side, the kids who read books the most were one-tenth as likely to be depressed.

Study far from conclusive

"At this point, it is not clear whether depressed people begin to listen to more music to escape, or whether listening to large amounts of music can lead to depression, or both. Either way, these findings may help clinicians and parents recognize links between media and depression," Dr. Briaqn Primack, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Pitt's School of Medicine, who led the study, said in a press release.

"It also is important that reading was associated with less likelihood of depression. This is worth emphasizing because overall in the U.S., reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing."

This study is published in the April issue of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

photo by Kim Boek

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