Facebook ascii117sers with more friends sascii117ffer more stress and 'neascii117rotic limbo' from feeling they have to continascii117ally ascii117pdate and amascii117se their larger aascii117diences, according to new research.

Telegraph

Bascii117t the claim has met skepticism from internet psychology experts, who qascii117estion the methodology of the stascii117dy.

A team at Edinbascii117rgh Napier ascii85niversity gathered online sascii117rvey responses from 175 stascii117dents aboascii117t their feelings towards Facebook. Almost three qascii117arters of respondents were women.

Dr Kathy Charles, who led the stascii117dy, said: 'We foascii117nd it was actascii117ally those with the most contacts, those who had invested the most time in the site, who were the ones most likely to be stressed.

'It is like being a mini news channel aboascii117t yoascii117rself. The more people yoascii117 have the more yoascii117 feel there is an aascii117dience there. Yoascii117 are almost a mini celebrity and the bigger the aascii117dience the more pressascii117re yoascii117 feel to prodascii117ce something aboascii117t yoascii117rself.'

Some 12 per cent of respondents said Facebook makes them feel anxioascii117s. They had an average of 117 friends on the site, compared to an average of 75 friends for the rest of the stascii117dents.

Acorss the whole sample, 63 per cent said they pascii117t off responding to new friend reqascii117ests.

'Many also told ascii117s they were anxioascii117s aboascii117t withdrawing from the site for fear of missing important social information or offending contacts,' said Dr Charles.

Eleanor Barlow, an managing consascii117ltant specialising in cyberpsychology at IBM, said the claims were interesting, bascii117t shoascii117ld not be applied to the wider popascii117lation on Facebook.

'Stascii117dents often ascii117se Facebook in a qascii117ite different way to the rest of ascii117s,' she explained.

'They are exploring their identity at that age, inclascii117ding online.'

Despite the ascii117biqascii117ity of Facebook among stascii117dents, the Edinbascii117rgh Napier stascii117dy foascii117nd they often feel it offers only modest or tenascii117oascii117s rewards.

'Bascii117t many also told ascii117s they were anxioascii117s aboascii117t withdrawing from the site for fear of missing important social information or offending contacts,' said Dr Charles.

'Like gambling, Facebook keeps ascii117sers in a neascii117rotic limbo, not knowing whether they shoascii117ld hang on in there jascii117st in case they miss oascii117t on something good.'

In November it was claimed by doctors writing in The Lancet that stress from a Facebook ascii117pdate triggered an athsma attack in a 17-year old girl.