A new study published by Pepperdine University shows moms who spend more time reading mom-centric social media content experience higher stress.

The study shows that more time is being spent on social media platforms, e.g Meta Platforms Inc META Facebook groups dedicated to motherhood have been linked to increases in mothers’ levels of the body’s stress hormone, cortisol, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Moms who go into online spaces have thousands of voices weighing up their decisions and it’s overwhelming,” says Dr. Lauren Amaroan associate professor of communications at Pepperdine said WSJ.

Amaro said her personal experience in a private Facebook moms’ group inspired the study. “I found it debilitating and had to move out of that room,” she said.

Also read: Almost half of US adults deal with stress – this company believes its wearable technology is the answer

During the research, 125 primiparous women were recruited and interviewed via social media. Recent participants included 47 college-educated white women who reported a range of social media uses.

The researchers collected saliva samples from the women over four days to test the level of the hormone cortisol.

Too much cortisol can lead to high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and weight gain. The more time the women spent on mother-centric social media, the higher their cortisol levels, the research found.

“If a mother feels that another mother is doing better as a mother, she could be inspired and learn from that mother,” says the psychologist Natalia Joseph, which was part of the research, told the Journal. “It can go in an unhealthy direction when a mother feels inadequate and her identity as a mother is threatened.”

Photo: Jan on flickr