Social Media Behavior of Young People in 43 Countries – Those from Disadvantaged Areas Face Greater Harm

Yves here. Surprise! Holding children on social media is a weapon of class warfare. It makes them miserable, which can at least impair their functioning in school and daily life, and can impose very serious and lasting mental health costs. And remember that hurting users is part of the business model. Make users vulnerable, especially young people because of their appearance and desirability, increasing engagement.

By Roger Fernandez-Urbano, Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow (Tenure-Track) Department of Sociology, Universitat de Barcelona: Maria Rubio-Cabañez, Postdoctoral Researcher, Center d’Estudis Demogràfics, CED-CERCA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Center, Sologia de Sologies, Solwazi d’Estudis Demogràfics, CED-CERCA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Originally published on The Conversation

As social media becomes an integral part of young people’s lives, there is growing concern about its impact on their mental health. Yet social conflicts and initiatives often treat youth as one homogenous group. We often overlook the fact that social media use does not affect all young people in the same way – nor does it have the same impact on their well-being.

In the latest chapter of the World Happiness Report 2026, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in collaboration with the University of Oxford, we examined how problematic social media use relates to the lives of young people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

We looked at 43 countries covering six broad regions – Anglo-Celtic, Caucasus-Black Sea, Central-Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, Nordic, and Western Europe – which includes mainly European countries and neighboring areas.

Using data from more than 330,000 young people, we found a clear and consistent pattern: higher levels of problematic social media use – that is, compulsive or uncontrolled engagement with social media – is associated with poorer well-being.

Teens who report more problematic use often have more psychological complaints, such as feeling low, nervous, irritable, or having trouble sleeping. They also have lower life satisfaction, a measure of how well they evaluate their lives as a whole.

This pattern appears in all countries in our study, but its strength varies from country to country. It is mainly pronounced in Anglo-Celtic countries such as the UK and Ireland, while it is relatively weak in the Caucasus-Black Sea region.

Socio-Economic Background

The story does not end with geography. Globally, young people from less advantaged backgrounds tend to be more vulnerable to the negative consequences of problematic social media use than their more advantaged peers.

This means that the socio-economic situation – material and social resources available to the family, such as income and living conditions – actively shape the risks and opportunities that young people experience as a result of online environments.

Interestingly, this inequality is especially evident when we look at life satisfaction. Differences between socioeconomic groups are smaller when it comes to psychological complaints, but they are more pronounced and more relevant to how young people evaluate their lives as a whole.

Another reason may be that life satisfaction is more sensitive to social comparison. Social media exposes young people to constant standards – what others have, do, and achieve – which can increase differences in perceived opportunities and resources.

At the same time, these patterns are not the same everywhere. For example, socio-economic differences in psychological complaints tend to be modest in many regions covering continental Europe such as France, Austria or Belgium, but are clearly visible in Anglo-Celtic countries such as Scotland and Wales.

Conversely, socioeconomic gaps in life satisfaction appear in many areas, although they tend to be weaker in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Cyprus and Greece.

A Growing Problem

We also examined how these patterns changed over time. Between 2018 and 2022, the link between problematic social media use and youth well-being became stronger.

This suggests that the risks associated with problematic use may have increased in recent years, possibly reflecting the growing role of digital technologies in the daily lives of young people, especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Importantly, these dynamics have affected youth across socio-economic groups in similar ways in many regions. In other words, while inequality remains it has not widened in this period.

No One-Size Solution

Although public debates about social media and mental health tend to treat young people as a single population group, our results reflect a more complex reality. Problematic use of social media is linked to poor health across countries, but its effects are shaped by social realities. They vary depending on where young people live and what services are available to them.

Not all young people experience the digital world in the same way, and not all are equally equipped to deal with its pressures. Recognizing this is important in designing policies that are not only effective, but also equitable, to ensure that interventions reach those youth most vulnerable to digital risks.