18-year-olds spend ever more time online, especially on social media
Published on 14/08/2026 - 10:20 GMT+2 A study by Portugal's Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) has found that 18-year-olds are spending more time on...
Published on 14/08/2026 - 10:20 GMT+2
A study by Portugal's Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) has found that 18-year-olds are spending more time on the internet, especially on social media.
The findings are based on a survey of young people taking part in National Defence Day 2025.
Most young people (60%) use the internet for an average of four or more hours a day, and intensive use (five hours or more) is rising compared with previous years.
"In itself, this indicator is not synonymous with problems; it simply reflects a life lived in both physical and virtual modes, often intertwined, with new ways of behaving, acting and being," reads the study's conclusions.
Social networks are the platforms young people use most, with the mobile phone as their preferred access device. However, most respondents, almost 45%, say they spend around two to three hours on platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Thirteen percent of young people admitted they spend around six or more hours on social media.
Beyond social media, online searches - for reading or studying - gaming (including betting) and watching films, videos and tutorials are other reasons that contribute to young people spending more time on the internet.
It is also notable that, in 2025, 99% of the young people surveyed said they started using the internet before the age of 16 and 39% began using it before the age of 10.
This is a particularly important figure as the proportion has been rising, showing that the internet is entering people's lives at an increasingly early age. The study highlights that this increase is slightly more marked among girls than among boys.
Girls appear to spend more time on social media or searching online, while boys seem to spend more time gaming.
When it comes to online gambling with real money, the level of use among young people is also striking: 17% of 18-year-olds (30% of boys and 5% of girls) place bets online.
Problems linked to internet use
Excessive internet use is associated with a range of problems, particularly among adolescents. The ICAD study therefore sought to find out from its sample whether they had already experienced any of them, such as poor performance at school or work; health problems requiring medical care; behavioural problems at home; financial difficulties; acts of violence or disorderly conduct; unprotected sexual relations; and episodes of emotional distress.
Overall, 35% of young people said they had experienced at least one of these seven problems in the 12 months prior to the survey.
The most frequently mentioned type of problem (20%) was emotional distress (lack of motivation, sadness, dissatisfaction, loneliness, anxiety), followed by poorer performance at school or work (17%).
The study ties in with one of the major issues in EU policy discussions on social media use by children and young people.
A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) published at the start of last year identified the dominance of the digital world over young people as one of the main drivers of loneliness worldwide.
Spending too much time in front of screens has been linked to lower levels of physical exercise and poorer sleep, as well as anxiety, depression, stress and social isolation.
The United Kingdom's plans to bar teenagers from accessing social networks have reignited a debate playing out across Europe. Countries such as France, Spain, Austria, Greece and Denmark are discussing measures to restrict minors' access, amid concerns ranging from cyberbullying and the addictive design of platforms to tragic cases of suicide and self-harm.
