Regular use of social networking sites such as Facebook can negatively affect your emotional well-being and satisfaction with life, claims a new study.

The good news, however, is you don't have to quit Facebook altogether. Just changing your social networking behavior and taking an occasional break from Facebook may lift your spirits.

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The study about Facebook addiction was published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until January 18, 2017.

The article, "The Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being," describes an experiment where 1,095 participants were given a pretest and then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: continue using Facebook as usual or stop using Facebook for a week.

The experiment was designed by Morten Tromholt from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tromholt reported on the negative effects of Facebook use on overall well-being, based on life satisfaction and emotions.

After one week without Facebook, the treatment group showed statistically significant improvement in well-being, with gains varying depending on the amount of time they previously spent on Facebook and whether or not they were passive users and tended to envy others on Facebook.

"Confirming previous research, this study found that 'lurking' on Facebook may cause negative emotions," said journal  Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

"However, on the bright side, as previous studies have shown, actively connecting with close friends, whether in real life or on Facebook, may actually increase one's sense of well-being."

The study said most people use Facebook on a daily basis but few are aware of the consequences. It provides causal evidence that Facebook use affects our well-being negatively.

By comparing the treatment group (participants who took a break from Facebook) with the control group (participants who kept using Facebook), it was demonstrated that taking a break from Facebook has positive effects on the two dimensions of well-being: our life satisfaction increases and our emotions become more positive.

Furthermore, it was demonstrated that these effects were significantly greater for heavy Facebook users, passive Facebook users, and users who tend to envy others on Facebook.

TagsFacebook, social media, The Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being, Morten Tromholt, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking