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Facebook has been found to have positive and negative effects on a teen’s stress; liking posts on Facebook is good for stress but being liked may be harmful. The findings come from the University of Montreal and the Institut Universitaire de Santé Mentale de Montréal. The findings revealed that having over 300 friends increased a teen’s cortisol – stress hormone – levels. Yet, if teens were supportive of their friends – liking their posts for example – their cortisol levels dropped.
The research team recruited 88 participants between the ages of 12 and 17 and asked them about their Facebook use, number of friends, self-promoting behavior and their supportive behavior towards their friends – liking, commenting, etc. Cortisol levels were also collected from the teens four times a day for three days.
Lead researcher, Professor Sonia Lupien, Ph.D., said, “While other important external factors are also responsible, we estimated that the isolated effect of Facebook on cortisol was around eight percent,” Lupien said. “We were able to show that beyond 300 Facebook friends, adolescents showed higher cortisol levels; we can therefore imagine that those who have 1,000 or 2,000 friends on Facebook may be subjected to even greater stress.”