Young people in the European Union view the impact of social media on their mental health far more positively than their parents do.
The boost for social media use comes as more governments weigh bans for youngsters, with Britain the latest to announce restrictions. London may curtail the use of social media by under-16s next year. Similar measures were introduced in Australia in 2025.
But a poll of teens in Europe found nearly half of respondents aged 13 to 18, or 48%, said social media had a positive effect on their mental well-being, compared with just 21% of parents surveyed.
Only 18% of adolescents said social media affected their mental health negatively, said the survey commissioned by the European Commission.
Meanwhile 36% of parents said it had harmful effects. Around one third of adolescents said platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat had neither a positive nor a negative impact on their mental health, compared with about 42% of parents.
The survey also found that parents underestimate their children's screen time. Adolescents reported spending an average of 4.5 hours per school day and 6.1 hours at weekends using phones, tablets or watching television, roughly one hour more than their parents estimated.
Researchers found a link between higher screen time and reported problems such as headaches, difficulty sleeping and trouble concentrating.
However, the report says the findings should not be interpreted as proof that screen use directly causes mental health problems. It says that young people already experiencing difficulties may be more likely to spend more time on social media or video games.
