Social media reduces young people's satisfaction

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According to a new study, young people in Austria generally have a high level of life satisfaction. However, social media can reduce this, as shown by the responses of around 14,500 young people.

According to communications scientist Tobias Dienlin from the University of Vienna, the respondents, whose average age was 14, spent around four hours a day on their cell phones. While the use of messenger services, online games, or the consumption of news had no effect on life satisfaction, this was not the case with streaming services or, in particular, social media such as Instagram.

“People usually show their good sides here,” said Dienlin, one of the authors of the “Mental Health Days Study” presented in Vienna on Monday. This distorted image is then often compared with one’s own – real – life. “The effects are small, but relevant.”

Overall, life satisfaction is very high, with 73 percent agreeing. “However, the figures are declining slightly,” said Dienlin. Mental health problems also became apparent when specific questions were asked. In the survey, 68 percent said they had felt depressed or hopeless in the past two weeks. Twenty-eight percent even said they had thoughts of being dead or harming themselves.

Help in a crisis

Reports of (possible) suicides can exacerbate the situation for people in crisis. There are contact points throughout Austria and in the federal states that offer advice and support in a crisis.

The Austria-wide telephone counseling service can also be reached free of charge at any time on 142. Help for teenagers and young adults is also available from Rat auf Draht on 147.

The increase in mental health problems among young people has now been confirmed by several international studies, according to Paul Plener, head of child and adolescent psychiatry at Vienna General Hospital and also author of the study. In addition, it was found that the prescription of psychotropic drugs to adolescents has increased significantly. The main causes are multiple crises: from war and inflation to climate change. Covid, on the other hand, is “no longer an issue.”

To make the topic of mental health more tangible for young people, author Golli Marboe introduced “Mental Health Days” into school lessons in 2023. So far, the initiative has reached around 130,000 young people. Topics covered include bullying, body image, pressure to perform, fears, and suicidal tendencies.

According to Marboe, demand is enormous. A total of 500 days of action are planned for 2025, but the costs of 1.5 million are not yet fully financed, despite subsidies.

Paul Freysinger from the Federal Youth Council (BJV) also emphasized the great importance of support measures for mental health problems. He called for one psychologist per 1,000 students and one school social worker – otherwise there is a risk of “a conflagration that will be very difficult to stop.”