Mood swings, anxiety, tendency to isolate, school neglect. These trite views usually outline the contemporary teenager. However, in recent years they have been viewed in a different light, in the light of her widespread use of mobile and social networks.

So adolescence can be a time when the most irrational emotions are just a part of everyday life, but there are many questions about how much the huge changes that technology has brought to our lives they have some influence in mental health children of middle and senior school age.

The images and habits that we see on an everyday level are alarming: children who are on the street, but sit in a row with mobile phones in their hands; who, instead of kicking the ball, play Fortnite with friends; who instead of turning their heads and talking to the person next to them, they will open up a conversation to her via TikTok. How does all this affect the psyche of adolescents?

“In interlife contacts of adolescents, direct visual communication is significantly limited, which is largely replaced by refracted optical communication using a mobile phone,” says Anna Kokkevi, Honorary Professor of Psychiatry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA).

Together with their team (Tassos Fotiou, Mirto Stavrou, Eleftheria Kanavu, Clive Richardson) they are “conducting” the “Panhellenic Study of Health Behavior in Adolescent Students”, which has been conducted since 1998 and every four years in Greece. , Institute of Mental Hygiene Research University (EPIPSY).

One in seven use problematic

In an attempt to answer the question of whether heavy use of mobile phones and social media is associated with poor adolescent mental health, and to outline the profile of adolescent social media addiction in Greece, Ms Kokkevi and her team they gave “K” unpublished, preliminary data for 2022. The EPIPSY pan-Greek survey was conducted among approximately 6250 students aged 11.5, 13.5 and 15.5.

To determine “problematic use of social media”adolescents answered a series of questions about their use up to 12 months before the study. They were asked, for example, whether they often wanted to spend more and more time with them, whether they often used them to “run away” from negative feelings, or whether they neglected other activities because they were associated with them.

Among other things, preliminary data for 2022 show that one of 7 teenagers (13%) did problematic use of social media. This problematic usage was in significantly higher percentages:

• V girls (16%), compared to boys (9%) and
• To 13 years (16%) and their 15 year olds (16%, excellent students) compared to 11-year-olds (6%).

Features of adolescent addiction to social networks

The immediately preceding 2018 EPIPSY survey also describes the characteristics adolescents who problematic or daily use the Internet and social networks.

Of course, Ms. Kokkevi emphasizes that the category of adolescents is not homogeneous in terms of attachment to mobile phones and social networks. For example, with age increase their use has been reduced (perhaps even rationalized), especially in high school.

In particular, students of the 1st Lyceum they have a high scale of attachment to social networks (44%) compared to students of the 3rd lyceum (39%). “When moving from one high school classroom to another, both the context and the adolescents themselves seem more willing and reluctant to regulate their participation in them,” comments the professor.

Why teenagers do not “cut” social networks

The older generations have always tended to point the finger at the younger generation, and reading facts like the above makes it easy to worry, but also to move on. aphorisms.

On the other hand, Ms. Kokkevi explains why teenagers hard to control use of the Internet and social networks. Modern teenagers:

1. They grew up in an environment where the use of mobile phones and social media was already considered “normal“.
2. Because of this, there adhesion on mobile phone and social media with strong – in some cases – signs of addiction.
3. They have developed and supported through apps one communication code.
4. They want to limit it FOMO (fear of missing out).

Moreover, as she points out, parents adolescents spend several hours a day on mobile phones, as a result of which they indirectly confirm the “normality” of their use and significantly complicate the work of their children, who at some point will seek to limit them.

Before and after the pandemic

Much has been written about how pandemic influenced the psyche of adolescents, prompted them to use social networks even more, which were the main occupation and outlet during their imprisonment.

As Ms. Kokkevi points out, over the past four years, there seems to be problematic usage has increased social networks both in general for the age group of 11-15 years (increase from 10 to 13%), and for individual groups (gender, age and economic status).

In fact, comparing the mental health of adolescents before and after the pandemic, we see that the percentage of those who showed psychosomatic symptoms has increased.

The rise of digital bullying

With cell phones and social media, oh digital bullying has found a “beautiful field” in the sense that alternative ways of bullying and victimization are being created.

Based on preliminary data from the latest EPIPSY study, 2022. double percentage of adolescents who reported having recently victims of cyberbullying (7%) compared to pre-Covid (3%).

Between the same two periods the number of thieves also doubled cyberbullying (from 5% in 2018 to 10% in 2022).

Unexpected Pros

However, changes in habits caused by the use of mobile phones, etc. limiting social interactions throughout life they also have some “unintended” positive consequences. In the US, Europe and Greece, trends such as reducing tobacco use (but an increase in soaring), as well as relative stability in excessive alcohol and drug useAs in physical abuse (although the figure has increased as mentioned above).

The use of mobile phones and constant feedback on social networks have significantly reduced real-life contacts.

As Ms. Kokkevi explains, one of the most important factors driving adolescents to use legal and illegal substances, as well as other high-risk behaviors, has traditionally been lifelong contact with “friends” in the situation. “boring”.

With the growth of digital communication, real-life contacts have been significantly reduced, and the void of “boredom” has been beaten out. Teenager’s attention shifted Pscreen content leads to a reduction in the use of these substances.

Demonize social media?

sure thing can’t be easily answered whether the heavy use of smartphones and social networks is the main factor that influenced the change in the mental health of adolescents. it’s the same foreign studies that show the oppositethat there is no correlation between the two parameters.

Significantly, there are studies that differential effect excessive use of social networks on the psychosocial health of adolescents, especially in pandemic period: Positive effect on feelings of “loneliness” when examining media use among close group members (reduction in FOMO) and negative effect on self-esteem issues, cyberbullying, etc. when examining adolescent exposure to the wider social media community. .

Therefore, despite the trend towards social networks are being demonized about their role in adolescent mental health, the reality is quite difficult and (especially periods of restrictive measures) certainly includes the beneficial properties of the former,” Ms. Kokkevi concludes.

*Greek study is part of an international research program about the health of children of school age (Health Behavior in School-age Children, HBSC), which is held every four years under the auspices of World Health Organization.