Video Chatting With Older Adults May Lower Risk of Depression

A study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found video chatting platforms can mitigate depression in older adults, reports the Economic Times . The researchers' comparison of video chat, email, social networks, and instant messaging used by men and women 60 and older determined video chat to be most effective in combating depression symptoms. The team identified 1,424 participants from a 2012 survey who completed a questionnaire about technology use, and also responded to a follow-up survey in 2014 that measured depressive symptoms. Users of email, instant messaging, or social media platforms like Facebook had virtually the same rate of depressive symptoms compared with older adults who did not use any communication technologies. However, participants who used video chat platforms such as Skype and FaceTime had nearly half the estimated likelihood of depressive symptoms, after adjusting for factors like pre-existing depression and level of education. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a potential link between use of video chat and prevention of clinically significant symptoms of depression over two years in older adults," the researchers say.