Psychology Research Evaluation Outline

Research Evaluation Outline
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Research Evaluation Outline
Introduction
All over the world, depression is a growing cause of concern because of its increasing prevalence among youths. Due to this, many research studies have focused on trying to pinpoint the real causes of this depression by associating it with different factors. A 2016 study by Liu Yi Lin et al. and another by Krylova in 2017 have largely associated depression with the use of social media. The two articles note the increasing rate at which depression is becoming prevalent among the youths in the United States. When compared to other types of mental disorders, depression in the US is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This reason, added to the economic burden it causes has led to the increased concern about the issue. The economic burden is usually felt regarding a reduction in the overall productivity of workers, increases in the rates of suicides and medical expenses. Young adults are often more susceptible to depression, which is not surprising considering that they are the leading users of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. By examining the various social media sites that young adults are exposed to, this paper shows the existence of a possible link between the use of social media and the increasing depression.
Approximately 1 out of 6 persons in the United States suffer from depression each year. Interestingly, a good percentage of suicide victims were believed to have suffered from depression. Such people often exhibit symptoms such as disinterest in activities, changes in appetite and weight, restlessness, the inability to sleep, feeling worthless, making suicide attempts and being unable to think or concentrate. With the emergence of technology, many young people have allowed social media to define their identities and serve as a source of their emotional fulfillment. Unfortunately, this has led to the wrong media use by promoting aggressive and harmful acts such as cyberbullying. The anonymity provided by social media sites usually gives the bullies an advantage since they can prey on their victims without their identities being known.
In most cases, those who fall, the victim, are those youths that are considered social rejects, and therefore are perceived as being of low self-control and low self-esteem. Within the schools in the Boston area, past research has shown that a good number of students often fell into depression caused by cyberbullying. Others even entertained suicidal thoughts because of the same. Generally, the idea of cyberbullying on social media causing depression makes much sense, especially considering that those targeted already could be suffering from some identity and emotional issues. It is only true that such people will fall into depression since they expect to find solace and sympathy from these platforms and not for their real-life weaknesses to be shared openly with the online community.
Social media use is common among young adults who in most cases use these sites for connectivity purposes. Evidently, in the United States, the young adults make up 90% of all social media users (Lin et al., 2016). With a majority owning personal computers and mobile phone...