Girls who use social media sites like Instagram aged 10 'more likely to be depressed as teens'

GIRLS who use social media sites like Instagram at ten are more likely to suffer emotional problems in their teens, a study found.

Those who spent longest chatting online were most likely to become unhappy with school work, body image and friends.

But boys who spent lengthy periods using social media did not suffer, researchers at the University of Essex and University College London say.

While lads do become unhappier in their teens, experts believe this is probably due to computer games.

Half of girls and a third of boys are online for more than one hour a day at 13.

This rises to 59 per cent and 46 per cent at 15, the survey of 9,859 British youngsters reveals.

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Some 16 per cent of girls and ten per cent of boys spend four hours a day or more on sites like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat at 15.

Happiness scores fell from 36.9 to 33.3 in girls between ten and 15 and from 36.02 to 34.55 in boys.

Study leader Dr Cara Booker from the University of Essex said: “Our findings suggest that it is important to monitor early interactions with social media — particularly in girls.

“Their social media use could have an impact on wellbeing later in adolescence and perhaps throughout adulthood.”

Dr Bernadka Dubicka, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "I am sure that social media plays a role in unhappiness.

"There’s a pressure for young people to be involved 24/7 and to keep up with their peer group online, or they will be left out and socially excluded.

"But we must remember that social media also has its benefits, particularly in its ability to provide young people with a platform from which to build networks and keep connected.

"We need to teach children how to cope with all aspects of social media – good and bad – to prepare them for an increasingly digitised world."

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