Cultural Factors Affecting Depression Rates

By: Kayla Mann

Southern New Hampshire University

Cultural factors affecting rates of depression is a fascinating question to research and may have many helpful implications for social science professionals. This is a significant issue because mental health problems and depression rates are on the rise in the United States. There are many cultural factors that have contributed to this rise. It is important to first identify the factors to then bring about social change. Depression and mental health issues affect people’s relationships, family, work life, social life and spiritual life. Shining a light into the darkness starts by becoming aware of the factors that contribute to it.

Social science principles are the things that make cultures different from each other. These principles are social roles, social norms, social institutions, and beliefs and values. Social roles are “a set of expectations, duties, responsibilities, attitudes and behaviors that a person is expected to fulfil in their society” (MindEdge, 2020). Social norms are the accepted standards of behavior that a society considers normal. Social institutions are things like government, family, religion, the education system, and the economy, which shape the everyday life of a society. Beliefs and values are the “cultural ideals that the society strives to maintain which can be ethical, spiritual, lifestyle based, or overtly stated in the laws of the country” (MindEdge, 2020). All of these social science principles apply to the issue of rising depression rates.

Gender roles have been changing in the United States and have caused new power dynamics in the workplace, the family, and within relationships. Social norms play a big part in this issue because people are expected to complain about their problems, religious ways of life are set on the backside of our culture, sex has become an extremely boundary-less activity, it is normal to leave your family to pursue your own interests and people are attached to their phones and social media accounts.

Social institutions play a major factor in increased depression because families spend less time together and people are making less home cooked meals together. Religion is not a major part of this country’s institutions like it once was. Higher education is extremely expensive, leaving many with burdensome student loan debts. Housing prices are higher than what many can afford on their own. People are not happy about taxes and the difficulty of maintaining small businesses. Healthcare costs are a major stressor for many people. People are worried about being able to afford healthcare and retirement.

Beliefs and values have changed that are affecting depression rates including people’s self image, beliefs about how they should look, and comparing people’s lives while surfing social media. People value independence and focus less on the group or family and more on themselves. The value of staying in a marriage is decreasing and infidelity is an issue that technology may be making worse. Family and society’s values have changed over time to be more focused on money and status with limited care for quality family time.

As we can see, the cultural factors affecting depression rates was such a broad topic that it had to be narrowed down to one focused area to study. “In recent decades, one of the most substantial changes has been in technology—both the technology available and how people use it” (Twenge, 2020). Therefore, the cultural factors have been narrowed down to the media and its effects on depression rates. There are many studies showing a link between media use and depression, therefore, finding solutions to this problem will be significant for social scientists.

The article “Why increases in adolescent depression may be linked to the technological environment” explains that the most significant cultural change in the last decade has been the use of technology (Twenge, 2020). This is important because adolescent depression rates have increased by 60% from 2011 to 2018 and this may be linked to the increase in media use. This article was found during a broad search on depression rates and media, where it was discovered that technology was the biggest change in cultural behaviors. This article was different from other articles included in the research because it reviewed other studies rather than conducting its own. Twenge (2020) shows a connection between the introduction of the smartphone in 2007, the majority of Americans use of them by 2012, and the rise in depression rates from 2011 to 2018. It’s findings cannot directly conclude causation, but rather links the major change in the way people interact with the use of technology and social media to the rise in depression.

The next article that was reviewed in this research is titled “Media use and depression: Exposure, household rules, and symptoms among young adolescents in the USA” and it produced a study which revealed that depression rates were decreased among adolescents that had restrictions on their media usage (Bickham, Hswen, & Rich, 2015). This is useful because it gives empirical evidence that shows depression can be reduced by setting household rules on media use. This research study was also found during a broad search on media and depression rates.

A study was reviewed that was conducted by three midwestern universities titled, “Do you have anything to hide? Infidelity-related behaviors on social media sites and marital satisfaction” looks at the effects of media use on adults. This article is important because it explores the interference of the media on intimate relationships. It found that 65% of American adults use social media, which has risen substantially in the last decade (McDaniel, Drouin & Cravens, 2017) and confirms the findings of the previous article which stated that technology has been the biggest cultural change in the last 10 years. This article explored additional factors in combination with media use that were related to infidelity including attachment styles within intimate relationships. This research implies that while media may allow easier access to infidelity related behaviors, baseline mental health problems are linked to a higher level of causation. This article also discovered that infidelity was linked to infidelity rather than media being the cause of the infidelity (McDaniel, Drouin & Cravens, 2017).

This study was found during a targeted search on media and infidelity. The study found a link between attachment styles and infidelity related behaviors. It also found that “overall Facebook usage predicted lower levels of marital satisfaction and greater incidence of divorce, postulating that social media may provide social support for those in unhappy marriages, offering opportunities for cheating behaviors that may cause conflict and erode marital quality (McDaniel, Drouin & Cravens, 2017). Thus, it was implied that couples could set boundaries around their media use to provide increased satisfaction in their relationships.

It was found that there were limited studies conducted on the use of secret messengers, SnapChat, and dating sites and their influence on unhappiness in our society. A new research question asks: Are secret messengers, SnapChat, and dating apps linked to infidelity and the rise of depression? A social scientist could investigate this issue by conducting a study. They could survey a large cohort of media users from ages 14 to 50, including different nationalities, socioeconomic stances, education levels, and married & unmarried participants. The study could survey the use of the media apps, depression, and the instances of infidelity in relationships or marriage. It could also ask questions about how participants feel when they see technology that allows for secret chat messages or disappearing short video clips and if it influences their behaviors.

This is an important social issue to explore and can be used to assist people of all ages to have healthier relationships for their children or themselves. Therapists could assist in suggesting the decreased use of media to their clients and client’s family members. Talk show hosts such as Dr. Phil could share this information with the public to help decrease family or personal conflicts. Social workers and Anthropologists could work to make societal changes to how people use technology. All of these professionals could educate parents on the risks of their children’s access to these applications and encourage setting rules on media use. Professionals in the social sciences could educate adults on the benefits to their relationships with setting boundaries around social media and technology use.

The issue of technology, social media, and television and its effects on the rising depression rates in America is a topic that affects adults, adolescents, and children. The best way to get this information out to a large audience would be through a psychology talk show host. Non-parental adults, adolescents, parents, therapists, sociologists and other working professionals watch these shows. This social science issue affects a large group of people, therefore the best way to reach this broad and large audience would be through a television program. It has been found that many people watch these TV shows to learn about ways to help their families. These programs discuss current topics where the viewers may be facing similar struggles. The talk show hosts are likely looking for new topics to discuss on their channel and may easily welcome this topic. This would be a practical way to get this message out to the largest amount of people and affect social change in a positive way.

References

Applied Social Science. (2020). MindEdge.

Bickham, D. S., Hswen, Y., & Rich, M. (2015). Media use and depression: Exposure, household rules, and symptoms among young adolescents in the USA. International Journal of Public Health, 60(2), 147-155. doi:10.1007/s00038-014-0647-6

Mcdaniel, B. T., Drouin, M., & Cravens, J. D. (2017). Do you have anything to hide? Infidelity-related behaviors on social media sites and marital satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 88-95. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.09.031

Twenge, J. M. (2020). Why increases in adolescent depression may be linked to the technological environment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 32, 89-94. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.036