Children who spend three hours or more on social media on a school night are twice as likely to suffer poor mental health, according to official national data.
Depression, anxiety and other mental health problems are more common among 10 to 15-year-olds who spend much of their free time on Facebook, Instagram and other sites, the latest figures show.
The report found widespread use of social media in the age group, with more than half (56 per cent) spending up to three hours online every evening. Eight per cent spend more than three hours social networking. The pastime is more popular with girls than with boys.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that there was a “clear association” between more time spent on social networking websites and children reporting difficulties that suggest mental health problems.
The study found that one in eight children aged 10 to 15 reported symptoms of mental ill health. This was higher than was reported in its study of nationwide mental ill health in 2004, although that was a more scientific study measuring diagnosable mental illnesses.
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The latest report asks children to comment on their own state of mind. It provides strong evidence that the widespread use of social media is having a detrimental effect.
Hayley Van Zwanenberg, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Priory Woodbourne Hospital in Birmingham, said that children were totally immersed in a “virtual world”, which was damaging to the way they saw themselves and the way they perceived the real world.
Hours spent on social media were at the cost of meaningful face-to- face conversations, particularly with parents, she said.
“There are many negative influences on the internet, not only in the form of people, but inaccurate information that young people take at face value to form their belief systems. There’s also a reduction in reciprocal social interaction with peers away from the internet. Children’s social skills and abilities to make small talk and listen and develop empathy are affected.”
She added: “Children constantly feel the urge to be plugged in and switched on but parents need to consider the detrimental effects to their development and put in place sensible boundaries.”
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Children who fight more than once a week with their mother are three times more likely to show symptoms of poor mental health. Those who are bullied are also four times as likely to have symptoms of mental ill health, the study found.
The Times has been campaigning to highlight the growing problem with poor mental health and is calling for greater investment in services, especially early intervention.
The ONS measured the symptoms of mental ill health among the young by asking children to identify problems they may have on a scorecard.
Mental ill health often manifests itself differently in children than in adults, resulting in behavioural and conduct problems.