Eurobarometer Confirms Link between Social Media use and Wellbeing for Children and Young People

Eurobarometer Confirms Link between Social Media use and Wellbeing for Children and Young People

On 16 June, the European Commission published an Eurobarometer Study on the Impact of excessive screen time and social media on young people’s mental health.

The latest data from the survey shows that nearly one in three adolescents explicitly report feeling stressed, sad or socially excluded because of social media. Of the adolescents surveyed, 45% acknowledge that they tend to compare themselves to others when using social media, and around a quarter of adolescents have come across problematic content online, including hate speech (25%).

Although the Eurobarometer recognises the importance of social media for keeping in touch with others and as a source of information, the results highlight the strong link between the age at which young people start using social media and the overall amount of time they spend on screens. Those who started using social media before the age of 10 report 7.5 hours of daily screen time at the weekend, compared to 5.7 hours among those who started after age 14.

Another Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade, conducted between February and March 2026, found that 92% of Europeans consider the need to further strengthen children and young people’s protection online as a top policy priority.