TOKYO: Young people ages 10 to 29 appear to have the highest rate of pathological social media use, with 6% exhibiting signs of a serious addiction, according to a survey by an addiction treatment institution in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The 6% figure for the age group equates to about 1.4 million people. Other age groups had rates around 0% to 1%, highlighting the growing severity of social media dependency among the young generation.
The survey, part of an initiative to tackle addiction by the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry, was conducted by the National Hospital Organization’s Kurihama Medical and Addiction Centre.
Questionnaires were mailed to 9,000 randomly selected individuals between January and February last year.
Valid responses were received from 4,650 men and women ages 10 to 80.
Since there is no official medical diagnosis for social media addiction, the study referenced overseas assessments of dependency.
Pathological use was judged based on nine criteria, including “feeling unwell when unable to use it” and “using it to escape unpleasant feelings.”
When asked about their use of YouTube, X and similar platforms over the past year, 7.1% of male and 7.5% of female respondents ages 10 to 19 met the criteria for “suspected pathological use.”
Among those in their 20s, 4.8% of men and 5% of women met the criteria. Men and women in older age groups had rates around 0% to 1%.
Among those suspected of pathological use, 27% reported “using abusive language or violence against family members” over social media use.
Conversely, 19% reported “being subjected to abusive language or violence by family members.” Six per cent had “missed school for 30 days or more,” and 5% had secluded themselves at home for six or more months straight.
The survey also examined whether there was pathological use of the internet more generally, such as gaming or email, and found that 14.5% of those ages 10 to 29 were suspected of pathological internet use.
This compares to 6.2% for the same age group in a fiscal 2018 survey by the same centre.
“Loneliness and anxiety about interpersonal relationships are believed to underlie social media dependency. As internet use continues to start at younger ages, schools, families, and communities need to collaborate to guide appropriate methods of use,” the centre noted. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
