Secret to teenage happiness is less than an hour a day on social media

♦ The happiest teenagers spend just under an hour a day on social and other digital media, a study suggests.

Analysis of more than a million children aged 13 to 18 found that unhappiness began to increase after more than an hour of screen time, while those participating in traditional activities, such as sports and time with friends, were the most content.

However, researchers at San Diego State University advised against avoiding digital media completely, as this was also linked to unhappiness.

The survey questioned students about the time they spend on phones, tablets and computers, as well as asking about their in-the-flesh social interactions and their overall happiness.

Teenagers who were habitually glued to their smartphones were markedly unhappier, and the research team believes screen time drove the unhappiness, rather than vice versa.

“The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use,” said Prof Jean Twenge, who led the research.

“Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the...time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising, two activities reliably linked to greater happiness.”

Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the Nineties, the researchers found that the proliferation of screen devices over time coincided with a general drop-off in reported happiness.

Specifically, young people’s life satisfaction, self-esteem and happiness plummeted after 2012, the first year that the number of people in America who owned a smartphone exceeded 50 per cent.

The study was published in the journal Emotion.