An increasing number of children and young people are becoming addicted to gaming, streaming and social media, with boys being more often affected than girls, a study by the German health insurer DAK shows. DAK also points to the pandemic as a causal factor.

The number of young people addicted to the media increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, a recently published survey by the German health insurer DAK reveals. In total, the study found that around 2.2 million children and young people are affected by the problematic consumption of gaming, social media or streaming. This means that they are at risk of addiction or are already addicted.

The number of children and young people addicted to computer games, for example, rose from 2.7 per cent in 2019 to 6.3 per cent in June 2022, and social media addiction doubled from 3.2 to 6.7 per cent.

DAK cites the restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic as one of the reasons, as they led to increased media consumption, which was the only way for young people to compensate for loneliness and frustration. Young people’s media use on weekdays is a third more than it was prior to the pandemic, the researchers say.

Regarding computer games, the average is about two hours on weekdays and three on weekends, while social media is used nearly three hours a day – and almost four hours on weekends.

The data suggests that the largest increase in hours of use took place after April 2020, in the wake of the first major lockdown. Overall, boys are more exposed to the risk of addiction and more of them are already addicted than girls, especially when it comes to gaming. Two out of three computer game addicts are boys. When it comes to social media, the level of addiction is about the same in case of both girls and boys.

According to the criteria defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a person can be considered a media addict if they have lost control over their media consumption for a year, have withdrawn from other areas of life and continue to consume media at the same rate even if they experience negative consequences, such as deterioration of health.

„If we do not take steps quickly now, an increasing number of children and youth will slip into media addiction, and the negative trend will be impossible to stop. It would destroy families and put many young people’s future at risk.”

DAK’s CEO Andreas Storm warns. He calls for an expansion of prevention and support services for those affected. It is also important „that children and young people learn to assess the risks of using digital media and to reflect on their usage behaviour.”

The experts recommend setting up clear rules that could also be formulated in a „media usage contract.” To do this, however, parents would have to keep an eye on their own media consumption, obtain information, and recognise early on when children are slipping into problematic areas of media consumption.