20 January, 2026. Press Release. After school, fourteen‑year‑old Sofia comes home feeling that her head is “too full”. Her phone becomes the quickest way to unwind: short videos, messages, and games offer a temporary escape from the day’s pressures. But in the evening, a few more minutes on the screen stretch far longer, sleep becomes shorter, and the next morning, it is difficult to concentrate both at school and at home. “Sometimes it feels like my phone helps me calm down, but later I end up feeling even more tired,” says Sofia, one of the participants in the international BootStRaP study investigating adolescents’ internet use habits and the factors underlying problematic use.

Sofia’s story is far from unique

Her experience reflects a broader trend increasingly observed in families and schools across Europe. Yet the issue is not merely screen time: a new scientific publication by the BootStRaP research consortium presents a study aiming to gather a large‑scale data from more than 2,500 adolescents in nine European countries.

This study is based on the accumulating evidence showing that young people use the internet not only for entertainment or communication, but also as a way to cope with stress, anxiety, or uncomfortable emotions. Digital environments offer quick and accessible ways to reduce tension or avoid unpleasant feelings.

According to the researchers, adolescents are a particularly vulnerable group: their self‑regulation systems are still developing, which may, over time, lead to reduced control over their online behaviour and negative consequences for sleep, learning, relationships, and emotional well‑being.

Understanding screen impact: why it matters to know what draws adolescents to online content

Scholars emphasise that when assessing adolescents’ internet use, the motivations and psychological mechanisms are especially important – why young people struggle to disengage from the online environment and what happens when the internet becomes the primary means of regulating emotions.

The study notes that it aims to understand how problematic use of the internet develops through the interaction between technological accessibility, individual risk factors, emotional processes, and self‑control capacities. The project team also states that the knowledge gained will help inform recommendations for national governments so that appropriate decisions can be made and digital technologies can become safer for children.

Data from daily life, not just surveys

The BootStRaP study does not rely solely on retrospective surveys: adolescents’ everyday behaviour and emotional states are evaluated in real time using a purpose‑built mobile application and periodic questionnaires. This approach allows researchers to examine how online activity, emotional states, and cognitive functions – attention, impulse control, and concentration – interrelate under real‑world conditions, without depending solely on participants’ recollections of previous days.

The study also explains that young people are not merely passive participants. They are involved in the development of study procedures and the app design, and they share contextual insights from their lived experience. Guided by open‑science principles, the project highlights how researchers communicate its aims and objectives clearly so that adolescents and the wider public understand how young people’s everyday experiences contribute to the creation of new knowledge. This enables the development of ethical, youth‑friendly, and practically applicable solutions.

From understanding to practical support

The BootStRaP aims to translate scientific insights into practical tools – methods that allow early identification of individual risk for problematic use of the internet and the development of personalised, evidence‑based self‑management strategies tailored to young people’s real‑life contexts:

  • Early identification of individuals who may be more vulnerable to problematic use of the internet,
  • Testing risk hypotheses related to the interaction between impulsivity, emotional processes, and cognitive functioning,
  • Determining how these factors can be applied in practical interventions,
  • Assessing the impact of problematic use of the internet on young people’s health and the associated economic burden in Europe.

Researchers stress that supporting adolescents’ emotional well‑being requires attention not only to time spent on screens but also to individual risk factors and emotion‑regulation processes. A fundamental step is setting and maintaining clear boundaries between screen time and other essential daily activities, helping adolescents maintain balance throughout the day.

The scientific publication underpinning this press release has been published in the international peer‑reviewed open‑access journal Comprehensive Psychiatry (Research protocol for BootStRaP assessment phase: A nine-nation study on boosting societal adaptation and mental health in a rapidly digitalising, post-pandemic Europe). 

Stay Connected. We invite you to follow the project and stay updated on new findings, ongoing activities, and resources that support adolescents’ digital well‑being. Join us here:

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The BootStRaP Communication Team information
Photo: Pexels, Karola-g2.