The world’s happiest countries report calls attention to youth well-being

Scientific American

The report emphasized the role of social media use in happiness: adolescents living in 43 countries who ranked high on a measure of problematic social media use tended to have lower well-being scores. Importantly, the report cannot conclude that using social media causes well-being to decline, and experts say its effects on youth are complex. For example, other research suggests higher levels of social media use could boost empathy in some children.