Facebook is one the favourite social networks of teenagers having both a negative, as well as a positive impact on the level of stress hormones. This is what scientists of the Montreal University have noticed after analysing the behaviour of youngsters who communicate electronically, and especially by using Facebook. Thus, those who have more than 300 Facebook friends have a higher cortisone level, cortisone being the stress hormone, while activities such as “like” and positive comments about their friends decreases the level of this stress hormone among youngsters.

The Canadian specialists reached this conclusion after speaking to 88 teenagers with ages in the rage of 12 and 17 years about their behaviour and their activity on the most popular social network. They took into account the number of friends, the interactions within the network, and the support offered to acquaintances. During the research, specialists assessed the level of stress hormones which turned out to be higher as the number of friends increased over 300.

The analysis was correlated with other studies emphasizing the fact that a high level of the stress hormone at 13 years old, for instance, increases by 37% the risk of depression later on, at 16 years old. This Canadian research is one of the first in a new field, the one of virtual relationships psychology, which might come in the future with new data regarding the impact of social networks on the psychological evolution of individuals.

Photo: Shutterstock