By PAT HAGAN - REPORTER Published: 00:25 BST, 28 September 2025 | Updated: 00:46 BST, 28 September 2025
Parents who want to stop children from becoming addicted to social media should crack down on internet use before the age of 12, research shows.Intervening before this age can reduce the risk of problematic scrolling during teenage years, the study found. After 12, restrictions had little or no benefit.And trying to prevent access to social media once youngsters reach 15 or 16 actually makes addiction worse, psychologists from the Netherlands discovered, because teenagers simply rebel by spending even more time online. Previous surveys have shown that almost half of British teenagers feel addicted to social media.A 2024 poll of 19,000 youngsters by Cambridge University researchers found that 57 per cent of girls and 37 per cent of boys admitted they were hooked on scrolling.Scans show that internet addiction in adolescence can damage parts of the brain responsible for self-control, flexible thinking, memory and problem solving.Parental restrictions play a key role in reducing the risk of long-term harm from social media addiction. But the latest study, from Utrecht University, suggests that the measures work only if they are introduced early enough to stop unhealthy habits from forming in the first place. Intervening before this age can reduce the risk of problematic scrolling during teenage years, the study found. After 12, restrictions had little or no benefit (Stock photo) Experts have long cited social media as a factor that can disrupt young people's sleep, relationships and socialisation skills (Stock photo) Researchers quizzed 315 boys and girls, as well as their parents, to measure levels of internet addiction and to find out when parental controls were introduced. The results, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, showed a reduced risk of dependence if parents started limiting access before children reached 12.Between 12 and 15, the same measures made little difference to addiction rates.And after 15, researchers found, cracking down on use resulted in teens having an even greater risk of becoming hooked.In a report on their findings, the researchers said: 'Parental rules may be more likely to prevent rather than reduce adolescents' problematic social media use.'When these rules are effectively enforced, adolescents are less likely to develop problematic patterns of social media use in the first place.'But if a problematic use has already developed, these rules have limited effect.'From the age of around 16 years onward, they even seem to backfire, probably due to the intensifying need for independence.'
