Phone apps may soon predict teen depression

陜西鎮巴中學 王明英

隨著信息技術的發展，很多青少年沉迷于手機游戲當中，有些甚至因此出現了嚴重的精神問題。抑郁在美國青少年當中屢見不鮮。然而，一款最新的app能夠幫助人們預測青少年的抑郁，讓他們得到及時的治療。

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Rising rates of depression among American teenagers and young adults have led to a major question:Could the same devicesbeing blamed forcausing depression be used to find it?

Studies havelinkedheavy smartphone usewithworsening teen mental health.But as teens spend time on sites,they also leave digital paths that may offer signs about their mental health.

Researchers are testing smartphone apps that use artificial intelligence,or AI,to predict depression.But there are still issues to address,including privacy issues and making sure children give permission to be closely followed.

App developers say thateffective,widelyavailabledepression-detecting apps may arrive soon.Using smartphones as mental health de-tectors would require permission from users to download an app.They could take back their permission at any time.

If smartphones can become effective predictors,app developers say the goal might be to offer digital messages to parents or doctors.

At the University of California,Los Angeles,researchers are offering anexperimental phone app to studentswho show signsofminor depression.Alyssa Lizarraga,who is 19,is among those being studied.She has had depression since high school.Lizarraga has worried about her heavy use of smartphones and social media.She said comparing herself with others online sometimes causes her sadness.But she believes using smartphones to identify mental health problems might help push people to seek early treatment.

At the University of Illinois'Chicago campus,researchers are testing their experimental phone app.Anyone can download the free app,and nearly 2,000 students have so far.All agreed to let the researchers follow things such as their typing behaviors.The study is for people 18 and up,but it could also be used for children if successful.

Along with studies at universities,technology companies such as Mindstrong and Verily—the tech health division of Google—are testing their own experimental apps.

Reading Check

1.How can we know about teen's mental health through smartphone?(no more than 8 words)__

2.What's the first step to predict depression?(no more than 8 words)_

3.What's Alyssa's attitude towards the depression-detecting app?(1 word)__

Language Study

Important vocabulary

1.be blamed for因……而受責備

2.link...with...把……和……聯系起來

3.effective adj.有效的

4.available adj.可利用的

5.experimental adj.試驗性的

6.seek v.尋找；尋求