One in seven teens use too much social media

One in seven Greek teenagers (13%) spend so much time on social media it has a negative impact on their state of mind, according to preliminary data gathered by the Research University Institute of Mental Health (EPIPSY) as part of a nationwide survey into behaviors related to the health of adolescent students.

The as-yet unpublished data for 2022 show that addiction to social media was significantly higher among girls (16%), compared to boys (9%) and among 13-year-olds (16%) and 15-year-olds (16%), compared to 11-year-olds (6%).

The study, conducted every four years by EPIPSY, attempts to answer whether intensive use of mobile phones and social media is linked to deteriorating mental health of adolescents, and to outline the profile of adolescent addiction to social media in Greece.

"Direct visual communication has been significantly limited between teenagers...