Malta’s teen girls have highest problem social media use

13-year-old girls in Malta and Romania are the most likely to show signs of “problematic social media use” among all countries participating in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study carried out in 2022, towards the end of the pandemic.

Over 280,000 children aged 11, 13, and 15 were surveyed across 44 countries and regions in Europe, Central Asia, and Canada.

In the study, problematic social media use is associated with signs of addictive and compulsive behaviour and is measured scientifically using an internationally recognized scale.

The study shows that 28% of 13-year-old girls were considered ‘problematic’ social media users, compared to an international average of 16%.

Moreover, in an indication that the pandemic has impacted online behaviour, the percentage of 13-year-old girls showing signs of problematic social media use has increased from 20% in 2018 to 28%.

While problematic social media use among Maltese girls has increased in all three age groups assessed in the study, the percentage of boys showing the same signs has either decreased or remained the same as in 2018.

The report shows that, when teens of all ages and genders are included, Malta (18%) was second only to Romania (22%) in reporting problematic social media use, followed by Bulgaria (17%). The lowest prevalence was found in the Netherlands (5%).

The survey also shows that 56% of 13-year-old Maltese girls reported continuous online contact with friends, compared to an international average of 41% for girls in the same cohort.

On average, 11% of respondents engaged with social media in a problematic way in 2022, compared to just 7% in 2018 – an indication of a sharp rise in what it calls problematic social media use among young people since the pandemic.

Problematic gaming among boys

Malta reported considerably higher rates of problematic gaming patterns among the 13 countries and regions that included questions on online gaming in the 2022 HBSC survey.

The survey shows that problematic gaming peaks among 15-year-old boys, with 27% showing signs of addictive behaviour. However, the percentage of problematic gaming is also evident among 11-year-old boys (24%) and 13-year-old boys (26%).

While addictive gaming increases with age among Maltese boys, it tends to decrease among girls. Among 11-year-old Maltese girls, 16% were classified as being at risk of problematic gaming. But the percentage of girls showing signs of addictive gaming behaviour falls to 14% among 13-year-olds and just 7% among 15-year-olds.

Overall, the study found that the rate for problematic online gaming was highest in Malta (19%) and lowest in the Netherlands (5%).

What makes online activity a problem

The report makes it clear that spending time online is not necessarily detrimental and, in most cases, is beneficial. However, among a “problematic” minority, it found that social media use was associated with addiction-like symptoms.

Signs of problematic online use included neglect of other activities in favour of spending time on social media, lying about how much time is spent online, an inability to control social media use, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

To assess problematic social media use, adolescents were asked to report on symptoms of addictive-like social media use using the Social Media Disorder Scale, a nine-item measure to which respondents answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Adolescents who answered ‘yes’ to six or more symptoms were categorised as problematic social media users.

WHO calls for digital literacy education

Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, said the findings made clear that social media could have both positive and negative consequences for young people.

He emphasised that there needed to be more “digital literacy education” to help young people develop a healthy approach to being online, and that governments, health authorities, teachers, and parents all had to play their part.

“It’s clear we need immediate and sustained action to help adolescents turn the tide on potentially damaging social media use, which has been shown to lead to depression, bullying, anxiety, and poor academic performance,” he said.

The prevalence of daily gaming varied across countries and regions, with the lowest rates observed for boys in Serbia (11%) and girls in Iceland (11%). The highest prevalence of daily gaming was found among 13-year-old boys (60%) in United Kingdom (Scotland) and 15-year-old girls (51%) in Serbia.

There was also cross-country/region variation in the prevalence of long gaming sessions (at least four hours). The lowest prevalence was found among 11-year-olds in Slovenia (15% boys and 7% girls) and the highest in 13-year-old boys in United Kingdom (England) (45%) and 11-year-old girls in Malta (19%).

Social media use (SMU) among adolescents has increased significantly in recent years. Beyond adolescents who use social media continuously, those with problematic SMU tend to have difficulty controlling their social media compulsions, feel distressed when their use is restricted and are preoccupied with thoughts of SMU when not online.

Problematic SMU is linked with lower mental, social and school well-being, but the outcomes of continuous SMU are country/region-dependent and can be favourable in specific well-being domains, such as friendship support.