Social media, gaming and video platforms, and now also AI chatbots, increase, according to a study presented on Tuesday, the risky media consumption of children and adolescents. The study by the German Centre for Addiction Issues in Childhood and Adolescence (DZSKJ) on behalf of the health insurance DAK Gesundheit arrives at the result, among others, that around 350,000 children and adolescents in Germany are addicted to using social media. With over a million minors, a risky media use is evident. While in this case daily life is not yet neglected, with addiction or dependency it is different: those affected forget appointments or tasks and neglect personal relationships.
The DZSKJ at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf has been studying the media usage behavior of children and adolescents in Germany on behalf of the health insurance since 2019. In doing so, a representative sample of children and adolescents aged 10 to 17, each with one parent, is asked about how they use digital media. In total, a little over 1,000 families participate. While previous survey waves already focused on social media, gaming and video platforms, for the first time the use of AI chatbots was also examined.
Here, the researchers see a problematic development: each of the young respondents feels at least sometimes better understood by AI than by humans. Just over 40 percent trusted the AI chatbots often or very often. „These chatbots are programmed to keep users engaged as long as possible by imitating social relationships,“ said Kerstin Paschke, study leader and medical director of the DZSKJ, at the presentation of the study. Thus the cultivation of parasocial relationships is promoted. These are relationships based on one-sidedness, for example to a star or to an AI chatbot.
Debate on the Age Limit
„The children and adolescents who show a high attachment to chatbots also exhibit higher levels of psychosocial burden such as depressive symptoms, anxiety or stress,“ Paschke explained. “From this, one cannot conclude that the use of chatbots is the cause of the burdens,” the authors emphasize in the study. However, the findings suggest that children and adolescents used the chatbots to cope with burdens or loneliness.
The study appears at a time when in Germany and many other countries debates about age limits for social media platforms are taking place. In Australia, a minimum age of 16 has applied since December. So far, experiences here have been mixed. Although the ten platforms covered by the law initially deactivated or deleted 4.7 million accounts of people under 16 when the ban took effect, numbers on how many accounts of children and adolescents existed before the ban are missing. Moreover, many under-16s still manage to bypass the platforms’ age verification — for example with fake mustaches or frowning when software determines the age.
In Germany and Europe, many proponents of an age limit thus argue that users with a digital identification feature must prove the required minimum age. Civil rights advocates warn, however, that this would endanger anonymous use of internet services — and that it would exclude people who do not have access to the corresponding identification systems. The Children’s Protection League also opposes a minimum age, as it would restrict young people’s rights to communicate and participate. An alternative could be a strict approach against addictive mechanisms such as push notifications and autoplay in videos.
The study’s director Paschke argued at the study presentation that an age limit of 14 for a youth version of the platforms would be sensible and a limit of 16 for the adult version. DAK chief Andreas Storm called for at least a cabinet decision on a minimum age before the summer break. Probably that won’t happen, as an expert commission appointed by the federal government is not expected to present its recommendations until the summer.
In the study itself, the authors do not advocate for or against an age limit — but they offer other recommendations: among other things, a clear improvement in the offering of analog leisure and family activities, funding measures in daycares and schools to strengthen the psychosocial resilience of children and adolescents, and targeted media literacy education through schools and parents.
