Mopey Kids Should Read More

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Hey you gloomy skateboarding adolescent, are you feelin’ down? Maybe you should turn off the Joy Division album and pick up some Emily Dickinson. The chances of being a happy, well-adjusted teenager, reports The Independent, are much greater if you keep your nose in the crease of a book. The Independent summarized the findings of a new study by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine:

Announced April 4, the US study compared six types of media–television and movies, music, video games, internet, magazines and newspapers, and books–and reported that the music-loving teens were 8.3 times more likely to be depressed that teens who spent the most time using the other types of media. The book lovers, on the other hand, were far less likely to be depressed than all the other groups, researchers said.

Just be careful with Edgar Allen Poe and the like.

Source: The Independent

Image by ckaroli, licensed under Creative Commons.

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