Texting teens struggling to connect

Northland teenagers are missing out on vital face-to-face contact due to their obsession with social media and text messaging, a social worker says.

The Loneliness in New Zealand report, published by Statistics New Zealand, found the chances of feeling lonely decreased as people got older.

Social isolation is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes or drinking six units of alcohol a day, according to the research.

The report showed 18 per cent of people aged under 30 had felt lonely at least some of the time in the previous four weeks.

Among those aged 30 to 64 years, 16 per cent had felt lonely. Among people aged 65 and over, the figure was just 11 per cent.

Te Roopu Kimiora Child and Youth Mental Health manager Agnes Daniels said she was surprised it was youth and not elderly who were lonely.

However, teenagers obsessed with Facebook and text messaging missed out on vital face-to-face contact, she said.

"The more technology we have that makes it easier for us to contact people, it seems the lonelier our young people are getting."

Ms Daniels said the young people she worked with struggled more with anxiety than loneliness.

"My own personal view is that when kids are involved with positive past-times and are not engaged in drugs and alcohol and hanging around town - I don't see loneliness, I see happy, well-rounded youths."

The "rite of passage" of alcohol for teenagers was unhealthy, as they then turned to the bottle to self-medicate when they were lonely or depressed, Ms Daniels said.

Adults who had migrated to New Zealand in the last four years were also more likely to suffer loneliness.

Victoria University migration specialist Professor Colleen Ward said when people moved to a new country they rarely had support networks in place, and so had to start more or less from scratch.

"They're starting without the advantages of people who have been situated for quite a while and have their supports in place."

Language skills were also a major factor, as a lack of English often prevented new migrants from approaching and trying to establish new relationships, Prof Ward said.


Loneliness and poor mental health were strongly related across all ages.