Madrid, has just put figures on something that many suspected: intensive use of social media, especially TikTok, triggers insecurity and anxiety among teenagers. A pioneering scientific study in Spain, conducted with 700 students aged 12 to 17 from the Gredos San Diego Moratalaz school, concludes that platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram directly influence minors’ emotional distress and that the design of the apps encourages clearly compulsive behavior.
The study, promoted by the Community of Madrid and developed by researchers from Rey Juan Carlos University and Pontificia Comillas University, analyzed the use of social media in a group of middle and high school students, measuring its relationship with variables such as insecurity, anxiety, self-esteem, and sleep patterns.Half of those surveyed admit to feeling insecure at age 16 if they are without internet access, and an overwhelming 98.5% admit that they need to be connected, both for functional and emotional reasons; only 3.85% say they do not use social media.
The anxiety of not responding “immediately”
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One of the clearest findings is the increase in anxiety from the age of 14 onwards when teenagers do not respond immediately to messages they receive. Among girls, the peak is at age 17: 76.5% say they suffer from anxiety if they do not respond instantly; among boys, the peak is between ages 15 and 16, with 57% acknowledging that same feeling. The study also identifies the 14-16 age group as the most vulnerable, with 60% of adolescents losing sleep because they are connected and 20% hiding the actual time they spend on social media.
In terms of platforms, consumption starts on YouTube between the ages of 11 and 12, but between 13 and 16, TikTok becomes the predominant network. According to researchers, TikTok’s architecture, with very short videos, infinite scrolling, and immediate rewards, encourages compulsive behaviors such as nomophobia (fear of not having a cell phone), the need for permanent connection, and intensive social use, all of which are linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression.
The data is compelling: the relationship between TikTok addiction and psychological harm has significantly higher coefficients than other networks, and 42% of minors feel anxious when they do not receive an immediate response to their messages on this platform. From the age of 14 onwards, although TikTok continues to dominate, the use of Instagram is growing, with 67% of girls and 39% of boys aged 16 and 17 reporting high levels of insecurity when they are offline.
The study also notes gender differences: girls suffer greater emotional distress when their self-esteem drops, and this factor becomes key to their psychological balance. Social media networks function for young people as spaces for belonging, identity building, social exposure, and creativity, but this second digital life has an obvious emotional cost when self-image depends on likes, comments, and constant comparisons.
What Madrid is doing in response to this warning
The Community of Madrid claims this study as a scientific basis for strengthening its prevention policies. Since the 2020/21 school year, cell phones have been banned in schools and high schools throughout the day, and since September, the use of individual digital devices has been limited in preschool and elementary schools in publicly funded centers. In addition, the Departments of Education and Health are working together on a school mental health program that already reaches all public special education centers and more than a hundred regular schools, with teams from public hospitals training teachers to detect risks related to technology.
In the health sector, Gregorio Marañón Hospital is home to the only public unit in Spain specializing in behavioral addictions —gambling, video games, social media, compulsive shopping—where the average age of the adolescents treated is 14. In addition, the Technological Addiction Care Service (SAAT), in operation since 2018, has already treated more than 43,000 people in Madrid and several surrounding municipalities.