Teenagers may face a lifelong struggle with addiction because of their perpetual use of modern technology - and parents are helping to maintain the habit.
As many as 83% of UK teenagers would struggle to give up vices such as texting, drinking alcohol and using social media for a month according to a report out today.
When asked which behaviours they could abstain from, young people said they would most struggle to live without texting (66%) followed by social networking (58%), junk food (28%) and alcohol (6%).
The average teen checks social media 11 times a days, sends 17 text messages, equating to once every 1.5 hours they are awake, said the report. Moreover teenagers take an average of 7.4 selfies a month, or one every four days.
The study, released by Allen Carr Addiction Clinics, questioned 1,000 UK teenagers aged between 12 and 18. It highlighted a trend of thrill-seeking in a growing number of young people, mostly carried out through technology and social media.
The report suggested that several elements involved in this habit - the constant pursuit of stimulation, peer approval, instant gratification, and elements of narcissism - are all potential indicators of addictive behaviour.
However it seems parents are inadvertently becoming "co-dependents" enabling their child's addictions by funding them - despite not necessarily knowing where the money is being spent.
Teenagers spend an average of £15.81 a week on vices such as alcohol, junk food, gambling and technology, meaning they fork out around £62 each month before they even consider other expenses. Almost half of this (£6.64) goes on texting, mobile phones and data. Junk food spending and alcohol ranked as the second and third most expensive habits respectively.
To fund this spending,14% of teens said they lied to their families to get money, while 7% said they had stolen from a relative at one point to finance their habits. The report suggested this was a particular problem in London, with 29% of the capital's teenagers having either lied to or stolen from their parents to fund their vices.
The constant search for the "next thing" is highlighted in how teenagers use apps. The average teen has 13 apps on their device and a quarter have more than 20 on their smartphones. Yet 46% admitted they stopped using or deleted an app after less than a week.
It seems the new year does not hold a promising outlook either. The report said the increasing amount of constantly evolving technology available in 2015 runs alongside established potentially addictive activities such as alcohol-use and eating junk food.
It suggested this creates an environment where young people experience the compulsion to consume and engage more than they can legitimately fund, leading to desperate, often risky behaviour - a hallmark of addiction.
Despite this, the report suggested 72% of youngsters remain oblivious to the risk of addiction to social media, apps, games, and other technology.
John Dicey, global managing director and senior therapist of Allen Carr Addiction Clinics said: "The central thrust of what we're saying is that these habits - the social media and technology - are getting young people to display the hallmarks of addictions at a young age. They can't legitimately afford it.
"We're talking about addictive behaviours: if you're capable of addictive behaviours at 12, our argument is you're more likely to develop further problems with addiction. That behaviour has been normalised for you and when you are older you are earning your own money so you're more likely to fritter it away."
He added: "Unless we educate our young people as to the dangers of constant stimulation and consumption, we are sleepwalking towards an epidemic of adulthood addiction in the future."
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