Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1527863
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 13-YEAR-OLD girls in Malta and Romania are the most likely to show signs of "problematic so- cial media use" among all coun- tries participating in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Chil- dren (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 associat- ed 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 consid- ered 'problematic' social media users, compared to an interna- tional average of 16%. Moreover, in an indication that the pandemic has impact- ed online behaviour, the per- centage of 13-year-old girls showing signs of problematic social media use has increased from 20% in 2018 to 28%. While problematic social me- dia 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 de- creased 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 Bulgar- ia (17%). The lowest prevalence was found in the Netherlands (5%). The survey also shows that 56% of 13-year-old Maltese girls reported continuous on- line contact with friends, com- pared to an international aver- age of 41% for girls in the same cohort. On average, 11% of respond- ents 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 considera- bly higher rates of problemat- ic gaming patterns among the 13 countries and regions that included questions on online gaming in the 2022 HBSC sur- vey. The survey shows that prob- lematic gaming peaks among 15-year-old boys, with 27% showing signs of addictive be- haviour. However, the percent- age of problematic gaming is also evident among 11-year- old boys (24%) and 13-year-old boys (26%). While addictive gaming in- creases with age among Mal- tese 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 be- haviour 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 Neth- erlands (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. How- ever, 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 spend- ing time on social media, lying about how much time is spent online, an inability to control social media use, and experi- encing 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'. Adoles- cents who answered 'yes' to six or more symptoms were cate- gorised 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 peo- ple. He emphasised that there needed to be more "digital lit- eracy education" to help young people develop a healthy ap- proach to being online, and that governments, health au- thorities, teachers, and parents all had to play their part. "It's clear we need immedi- ate and sustained action to help adolescents turn the tide on potentially damaging so- cial media use, which has been shown to lead to depression, bullying, anxiety, and poor ac- ademic performance," he said. The prevalence of daily gam- ing varied across countries and regions, with the lowest rates observed for boys in Ser- bia (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-coun- try/region variation in the prevalence of long gaming ses- sions (at least four hours). The lowest prevalence was found among 11-year-olds in Slove- nia (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 in- creased significantly in recent years. Beyond adolescents who use social media continuously, those with problematic SMU tend to have difficulty con- trolling their social media com- pulsions, 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 out- comes of continuous SMU are country/region-dependent and can be favourable in specific well-being domains, such as friendship support. Malta's teen girls have highest problem social media use By Age Girls Boys 11y 16% 24% 13y 14% 26% 15y 7% 7% HSBC Survey 19% 65% 6% at risk of problematic gaming non- problematic gamer non-gamer