2022 Digital Well-Being Index
Research Findings

CONTENTS➔ Research background➔ Summary of ﬁndings➔ Introducing the Digital Well-Being Index➔ Online risk landscape➔ Gen Z adults had lower Digital Well-Being➔ Parents were in tune with their teenagers’ Digital Well-Being➔ Country detail➔ Supplemental material

METHODOLOGY

9,003

3

6

Respondents
12-minute online survey

Audiences
Gen Z teens, 13-17
Gen Z adults, 18-24
Parents of 13-19-year-olds

Countries
Australia, France, Germany,
India, UK, U.S.

UnitedKingdom
Kingdom
UnitedGermany
Germany

FranceFranceUnitedUnitedStates
States

India
India

Australia

Interviews
werewere
conducted
April 22,2022,
through May
Interviews
conducted
April
22 throughMay10,
10, 20222022.

1. THE DIGITAL WELL-BEING INDEX IS A COMPELLING MEASURE OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING ONLINEFoundation
The Index drew upon more than four decades of research on subjective
well being, adapted for the online environment, and incorporated
multi-year studies on online risks conducted by the research teamamong teens and adults in 34 countries.

Relationship of online risk with DWBI

Validity
The resulting DWB index shows clear relationships between risk
exposure, social media, and social support assets and current online
well being. Four groups were identiﬁed based on their well-beingscores: Flourishing, Thriving, Middling, and Struggling.

Any risk

Multi-dimensional
The scale shows areas where users are experiencing positive beneﬁts
and growth, which can outweigh negative incidents for many.

Threatening behavior

Statistically robust
Items reﬁned through pretesting and post hoc analyses. The ﬁnal DWBI
scale demonstrated robust statistical properties (e.g., validity, internalconsistency).

Sexual
Self-harm
Struggling

Flourishing
DWBI

2. SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DIGITAL WELL-BEING

1

2

3

Positive Inﬂuence
Those who saw social media as apositive inﬂuence in digital well-being

Social media is a positiveinﬂuence in my life

Quality over quantity
Digital well-being is more dependent on
the nature and quality of yourinteractions online and less dependent
on how much time is spent on social
mediaType of risk matters
Personally targeted risks exhibit astrong relationship while ‘normalized’risks have a weak relationship withdigital well-being

Fake news, misinformation(“normalized risk?”)
Threatening behavior

Avg. daily hours
using social media

Struggling

Flourishing

DWBI

3. PARENTS ARE GENERALLY IN TUNE WITH THEIR TEENAGERS’DIGITAL WELL-BEING
Regular parent communication about online
activities with teens can make a diﬀerence

Parents of Teens (13-17)
correctly estimated theirdigital well-being• The ability of parents to accurately estimate theextent of their teen’s digital well-being was
driven by parents checking in regularly

Parents who don’t check-in
signiﬁcantly
underestimated theirteenagers’ risk exposure• Teens whose parents regularly checked in had
higher digital well-being and retained higher
levels of trust from their parents• Conversely, the subset of parents who did not
regularly check in about teens’ online
experiences signiﬁcantly underestimated teens’risk exposure (by nearly 20-points).

19-pt.
19pt. gap!

Teens

Parents’ estimateof teen DWBIGen Z actual
risk exposure

Parents
estimated risk
exposure4. GEN Z ADULTS (18–24-YEAR-OLDS) HAD LOWER DIGITAL
WELL-BEING THAN TEENSDWBI• Our data likely reﬂects the unprecedented
feelings of uncertainty felt most strongly by
Gen Z adults. National surveys consistently
report Gen Z adults are doing worse mentallyand physically than other demographic
groups• Compared to teens, Gen Z adults were lesssatisﬁed with their life online and reported
much lower scores on physical and emotional
healthTeens(13-17 year olds)

Gen Z adults(18-24 year olds)

INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL WELL-BEING INDEX

Positive emotion: 12

Achievement: 13:

Engagement: 13

13

Negative emotion: 11
Base: Gen Z, N=6002
Scores range from 0-100, Inventory of items on slide 50

Relationships: 132022 Score:62

DWBI GROUP SIZES & SCORE RANGES
Flourishing, 78-100
Thriving, 62-77

DWBI midpoint score

Middling, 45-61

Struggling, 0-44

Percent Gen Z Adults, 18-24
Base: Gen Z, N=6002

Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

DWB group

Description

Flourishing(Very high)Extremely positive – rate
everything at the top end of thescale

Thriving(High)

Average top two box across thedimensions; may not be top box on
everything but experiences overall
are very positive

Middling(Medium)“Mid-range” in their evaluations.
Mix of favorable and unfavorable
ratings; everything’s not rosy

Struggling(Low)

Rate all dimensions on the low endof the scale (1-3 range);consistently encounter negative
experiences and outcomesVALIDITY: DIGITAL WELL-BEING RELATIONSHIPS
Risk
Direction ofrelationship• Personal• Non-personal+-

Socialmedia• Usage• Attitudes

Supportassets• Parents• School• Community• Peers++

Health• Physical• Emotional

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWBI & RISKS
The relationship was dependent on the type of risk
Strong negative relationships with DWBI

Bullying

DWBI
Struggling

FlourishingTeasing, namecalling, purposefulembarrassment
Flaming
Damaging
relationships

SexualSexual solicitation

Self-harmThoughts self-harmThoughts of suicide

Weak relationships with DWBI. Have these risks been “normalized?”

Fake identity

DWBI
Struggling

Flourishing

Someone impersonatedand made false or
malicious statements
while pretending to beme*
A use pretended to besomeone else to try andsell me something or for
ﬁnancial gain *A user pretended to besomeone else to try andestablish a relationshipwith me *Someone pretended to
be a celebrity or
represent a brand toentice me to interact withthem *

Base: Gen Z, N=6002, * Small samples in the low and very high groups
Q5: Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply.

Other risks
Fake news,
misinformation
Unwanted contact

Contraband,
extremism
Violent extremism,
content &messaging*
Illegal drug sales*
Illegal weapons
sales*DWBI
Struggling

FlourishingEVIDENCE FOR THE NORMALIZATION OF RISKS

Reasons not to report an incident
41%
64% ignored or brushedoﬀ bad behavior

23%

I just ignore it. It’s normal
for people to post things
some people ﬁnd
oﬀensive

No big deal the person
was just expressing an
opinionBase: typically use Snapchat, Instagram and other social platforms N=6087
Q21: What are the reasons you do not or would not report an incident?

26%

Gen Z adults 30%
Teens
23%

Fear nothing will happen,
no serious consequences
for the abuser

18%

17%

Fear of retaliation

Fear I’d get blamed for theincident

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWBI & SOCIAL MEDIA
For most, social media had a positive inﬂuence on digital well-being
Social media has apositive inﬂuence on
the quality of my life

I cannot live my life
without social media

The world would be abetter place withoutsocial media

Positive

Positive

Positive

Struggling

Flourishing

Struggling

DWBI(% picked statement, forced choice)
Base: Gen Z, N=6002

Q12b: Which of the following is closer to your view about social media?
Q26: How true is each statement for you personally?

Flourishing
DWBI(% completely agree, agree a lot)

Struggling

Flourishing
DWBI(% completely agree, agree a lot)GEN Z SAW SOCIAL MEDIA AS A POSITIVE FORCE IN THEIR LIVES

78%
of Gen Zers believed social media had apositive inﬂuence on their quality of life
• Belief among teens (84%) was signiﬁcantly

stronger than Gen Z adults (71%)• Gen Z males (81%) were more likely to believe thisthan females (75%); this diﬀerence held for both
Teens and Gen Z adults• Parents’ (73%) opinion about social media’s

inﬂuence mirrored Gen Z adults

Q12b: Which of the following is closer to your view about social media. Social media has a positive inﬂuence on the quality of my life or Social media has a negative inﬂuence on t?

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWB & SUPPORT NETWORKS
Broad support networks had a positive impact on DWB

Number of support assets*

Digital Well-Being Segment

0 to 34 to 6
7 to 12*Support assets are people who support Gen Zs at home, school, community and among friends & peers, must have selected completely agree or agree a lot
Base: Gen Z, N=6002
Q26. How true is each statement for you personally?

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWB & HEALTH
Physical and mental health had a strong positive relationship with DWB

Base: Gen Z,
N=6002
Q12, Q12p How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements… In general my <parents insert: teenage children’s>…

ONLINE RISK LANDSCAPE

Snapchat confidential

THREE IN FOUR GEN ZS REPORTED EXPERIENCING A RISK
More than eight in 10 for Gen Z adults

Base: Gen Z,
N=6002Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

Parents reported what risks
they believed their children
experienced

RISK DISTRIBUTION: NON-PERSONAL = MOST COMMON

Base: Gen Z,
N=6002Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

RISK DETAIL

Base: Gen Z, N=6002

Q6A. Experienced non-consensual intimate imagery, bullying, impersonation, self-harmGEN Z ADULTS EXPERIENCED MORE RISKS THAN TEENS

Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

ONE IN SEVEN (14%) OF GEN Zers HAD THOUGHTS OF SELF-HARM

49%
FOLLOWED THROUGH ON THEIRTHOUGHTS TO COMMIT SELF-HARM• Teens (57%) were more likely to follow-through on thoughts of self-harm than Gen Z adults (44%)

Q6D. You mentioned that you [parent: your child] had thoughts of self-harm. Did you follow through on thoughts to harm yourself? Base Gen Z who had thoughts of self harm N=619

TYPES OF SELF-HARM

Q6Da. If it is not too unsettling and you are comfortable responding, which of the following best describes how you hurt self-harmed yourself. Select all that apply

ARE HIGH ACHIEVERS MORE LIKELY TO SELF HARM?

GEN Z ADULTS HAD
LOWER DIGITAL WELL-BEING
THAN TEENS

Snapchat confidential

GEN Z ADULTS HAD LOWER DWBI
DWBI

65 teen60 Gen Z adultGEN Z ADULTS SCORED LOWER THAN TEENS ON POSITIVE /NEGATIVE EMOTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ONLINE
Teens vs. Gen Z adults scores on DWBI inventory items

Was very satisﬁed with mypersonal relationships online

Gen Z
adultsI generally felt that what I
did online was valuable
and worthwhile

Positive emotion

Base: Gen Z, N=6002
Detailed inventory of items on slide 79

Teens

I often felt lonely

Engagement

Relationships

DWBI dimensions

Negative emotions

Achievement

FEMALES HAD HIGHER REPRESENTATION IN THE STRUGGLING &MIDDLING GROUPS VS. MALES

Struggling

Middling

Thriving

Flourishing

UNWANTED CONTACT & SEXUAL RISKS WERE MORE PREVALENTAMONG FEMALES

Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

PARENTS WERE IN TUNEWITH THEIR TEENAGERS’DIGITAL WELL-BEING

Snapchat confidential

PARENTS WERE GOOD JUDGES OF THEIR TEENS' DIGITAL WELL-BEING

Q5. Which, if any, of the following have happened to you personally ONLINE, on any electronic device during the past three months? Select all that apply

PARENTS TRUSTED THEIR TEENS TO ACT RESPONSIBLY ONLINE…

Q4: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

… AND THAT TRUST WAS GENERALLY RETURNED BY THEIR TEENS

Less
dangerous

Base: Parents of 13–19-year-olds, N=3001

Q10. You mentioned that your child experienced incidents online during the past three months. How did you learn about what happened to your child?

Teen told me

Figured itout on myown

Learned fromsomeone elseMore
dangerous

CHECKING IN WAS POSITIVELY RELATED TO TEENAGERS' DWB

Base: Parents of 13–19-year-olds who checked in with their teenager regularly about their online activities N=1256

Q3. On average, about how much time do you spend per day on social media for personal use (excluding any use for business or educational purposes) Your best guess is ﬁne
Q4. I regularly check in with my child about their online activities and ask if they are experiencing any problems, agree-disagree

52% OF GEN Z SOUGHT HELP AFTER EXPERIENCING A RISK

Base: Gen Z who experienced a risk, N=4537

Q7: You mentioned that you experienced incidents online such as ... during the past three months. After what happened to you, did you talk with or seek help from anyone?
Q8. Who did you talk with or seek help from? Select all that apply

AMONG RESPONDENTS WHO
SOUGHT HELP FROM A PARENT

47%
OR NEARLY TWICE AS MANY GEN ZERS
SOUGHT HELP FROM MOM VS. DAD• Teens (48%) and Gen Z adults (45%) both preferredtalking with moms by a wide margin vs. dads (25%,23%, respectively)• 53% of Gen Z males sought help slightly more thanfemales (50%); however, when females sought help,
they overwhelming talked to mom (57% vs. 38%)
• Gen Z adults (33%) were more likely to seek help

from both parents vs. Teens (27%)
Q9. Who did you talk to or seek help from?

COUNTRY DETAIL

Snapchat confidential

DWBI AROUND THE WORLDGLOBAL AVERAGE = 62

62 United
Kingdom

60
Germany

64 United
States60
France

68
India

63
Australia

INDIA HAD THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF “FLOURISHING” &“THRIVING” RESPONDENTS

INDIA’S HIGHER DWBI WAS DRIVEN BY GREATER PARENTENGAGEMENT AND NUMBER OF SUPPORT ASSETSONLINE RISK COUNTRY PROFILESDWBI DIMENSIONS COUNTRY PROFILES󰎉 AUSTRALIA SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 63󰏃 FRANCE SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 60

󰎲 GERMANY SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 60

󰏝 INDIA SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 68󰏅 UNITED KINGDOM SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 62󰑔 UNITED STATES SNAPSHOT, DWBI = 64

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
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●
●
●
●
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Digital well-being inventory statements
Online risk deﬁnitions
Life satisfaction measures
LGBTQ proﬁleSocial media statistics
Demographics

Snapchat confidential

THE DIGITAL WELL-BEING INVENTORY – 20 ITEMS

Positive emotion
Engagement

Often felt proud
Often felt delighted
I generally felt that what I did online was valuable and worthwhile
Felt the things I did online gave me a sense of accomplishment and pride
Have had more good times than bad times online
Got completely absorbed in what I was doing online
Often felt really interested in what I am doing online
Felt excited and interested in things online

Relationships

Was very satisﬁed with my personal relationships online
Have friends who really listen to me when I have something to say online
Received help and support from others online when I needed
Have people in my life online who really care about

Negative emotion

Worried a lot that other people might not like me
Worried about what other people might be saying about me online
Often felt lonely
Often felt left out and not close to anyone

Achievement

Stayed informed so I felt in touch with what's happening in my community and the world
Learned how to do things that are important to
Was able to grow in my skills and abilities
Learned things that gave me more self-conﬁdence

When I was interacting with other people and experiencing things online during the past three months, I…

RISK DEFINITIONS
Risk

Deﬁnition

Account hijacking

Someone used my social media account or email to post or send things that did not come from me. [Includes someone using my phone or accountto post messages pretending to be me.]

Fake news or misinformation

I saw or read a news story or learned something online that appeared to be true but turned out to be false and misleading. This includes alteredimages and videos.

Hate speech

I received or was exposed to speech that attacked a person or group based on factors such as age, gender, national origin, religion, race, disability,
pregnancy, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

Illegal drug sales

I was sent/exposed to content promoting the sale, distribution, or delivery of illegal or counterfeit drugs through the Internet or online platforms.

Weapons sales

I was sent/exposed to content promoting the sale, distribution or delivery of guns and ammunition or other dangerous weapons through theInternet or online platforms.

Online bullying & harassment

I have been bullied, harassed, teased, or called hurtful names online

Online impersonation

I have had experiences where someone had approached me using a fake identity online

Non-consensual intimate
imagery

Sexually explicit content produced or distributed without the consent of the people depicted.

Thoughts of self-harm

I have had thoughts about harming myself as a result of interacting online

Thoughts of suicide

I have had thoughts about suicide as a result of interacting online.

Threats of violence

Someone online threatened to harm me, another person, or place.

Unwanted contact

Being personally contacted by someone who obtained my information online that I don’t want to interact with or didn’t expect to hear from. [could
include people 'following' me online to see my location, what I am doing, who I am with, spam accounts that tried to lure me to follow back, etc.]

Unwanted sexual attention

I received unwelcomed sexually-oriented teasing, joking or ﬂirting

Violent extremism or terrorism
content/messages

I was sent/exposed to extremist online communications or content that encouraged and condoned acts of violence based on things like religious,
political, or racist beliefs.

Bold, respondents were asked for the type online bullying, online impersonation, etc.. Deﬁnitions for these are on the following slide

RISK DEFINITIONS - Continued
Online bullying & harassment
Disrespecting: Someone dissed or disrespected me
online.
Cyberstalking: A person tracked or followed me making
me feel very uncomfortable and fearful.
Damaging my relationships: Someone tried or
succeeded in harming my relationships by spreading
rumors or lies
Doxing: A person collected and distributed private
personal information about me (e.g., name, age, email,address, phone number, images, etc.) without mypermission.
Excluding: Someone deliberately left me out of an online
group or text/message thread.
Flaming: A person sent me angry, hurtful, or abusive
message(s) or email(s).
Teasing, name calling, purposeful embarrassment:
Someone teased, called me oﬀensive names, orembarrassed me online on purpose.
Trolling: Someone deliberately made unsolicited and/or
controversial comments to try and provoke an emotional
reaction and engage me in a ﬁght or argument
Dislike and contempt for females/Misogyny: I received
or came across hurtful, hateful or sexist images orcontent based on my gender

Online impersonation

Non-consensual intimate imagery

Someone impersonated me online and made false or
malicious statements while pretending to be me

Unsolicited sexual content: I received or came acrossunwanted sexual images, messages, or videos.

A user pretended to be someone else to try and sellme something or for ﬁnancial gain

“Revenge porn”: Someone posted or shared sexually
explicit images or videos of me online without mypermission.

A user pretended to be someone some else to try andestablish a relationship with me
Someone pretended to be a celebrity or represent a
brand to entice me to interact with themSexual solicitation: A person asked me to engage insexual activities or sexual talk, or to provide personalsexual information, including asking for or demanding
nude images.

VALIDATION OF DWBI THROUGH LIFE-SATISFACTION MEASURE
Online Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction statements
I am satisﬁed with my life ONLINE
In most ways my life ONLINE is close to my ideal
So far, I have gotten the important things I want frommy life ONLINE
The conditions of my life ONLINE are excellent

Q12. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements…

VALIDATION OF DWBI THROUGH LIFE-SATISFACTION MEASURE
Oﬄine Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction statements
I am satisﬁed with my life OFFLINE
In most ways my life OFFLINE is close to my ideal
So far, I have gotten the important things I want frommy life OFFLINE
The conditions of my life OFFLINE are excellent

Q12. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements…

LIFE SATISFACTION MEASURES – OFFLINE SAT SLIGHTLY HIGHER
Online life satisfaction statements(completely agree, agree a lot %)

Total

Teens

Gen Z adults

Parents of
13-19-yr. old

I am satisﬁed with my life ONLINE

40%

46%

33%

42%

The conditions of my life ONLINE are excellent

30%

34%

26%

30%

So far, I have gotten the important things I wantfrom my life ONLINE

29%

32%

25%

30%

In most ways my life ONLINE is close to my
ideal

28%

31%

26%

28%

Oﬄine life satisfaction statements(completely agree, agree a lot %)

Total

Teens

Gen Z adults

Parents of
13-19-yr. old

I am satisﬁed with my life OFFLINE

44%

48%

37%

46%

The conditions of my life OFFLINE are excellent

41%

46%

34%

43%

So far, I have gotten the important things I wantfrom my life OFFLINE

41%

46%

35%

42%

In most ways my life OFFLINE is close to my
ideal

38%

42%

33%

38%

Adapted from life satisfaction scale created by Dr. Ed Diener

90% of LGBTQ+ EXPERIENCED A RISK
13% IDENTIFIED AS LGBTQ+ N=784

AT THE EXTREMES, GEN Z HAD SLIGHTLY MORE NEGATIVE ATTITUDESTOWARDS SOCIAL MEDIADAILY TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Teens most concentrated at 1-2 hours
while Gen Z adults found in 2-4+ hours
Female Gen Zs
reported higher hours

DEMOGRAPHICS

Archive
Older/Original Slides

INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL WELL-BEING INDEX

Positive emotion: 12

Achievement: 13

Engagement: 13

Negative emotion: 11

Relationships: 13

62
Base: Gen Z, N=6002
Scores range from 0-100, Inventory of items on slide 50

2022 score

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWBI & RISKS
The relationship was dependent on the type of risk