Social Media Addiction Test

What This Social Media Addiction Test Measures

The six statements above are the six items of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, a research questionnaire published by psychologist Cecilie Schou Andreassen and colleagues in 2016.^[1] Each one covers a warning sign from the components model of addiction, a set of six features researchers look for across behaviors from gambling to gaming.^[2] None of them asks how many hours you spend online. The test looks at control and cost instead.

In the research version, people rate how often each statement was true over the past year on a five-point scale, from "very rarely" to "very often."^[2] This version asks for a simple yes or no. That makes it quicker and also rougher, so your score here can't be compared with the cutoffs used in published studies.

The Six Warning Signs

Each question on the test maps to one sign. A 2025 study of 2,761 adolescents found the six split into two groups: four "core" signs that track real problems, and two "peripheral" signs that many heavy but untroubled users also report.^[3]

1. Salience: social media fills your thoughts

You think about it when you're not using it, or you plan your next post or check. On its own this is a weak signal. In the 2025 study, salience went along with higher life satisfaction and self-esteem, not with depression or anxiety.^[3]

2. Tolerance: you feel an urge to use it more and more

It takes longer sessions to feel satisfied. Like salience, this sign is common among enthusiastic users who have no problem with their use.^[3]

3. Mood modification: you use it to forget your problems

You open the app to escape a bad feeling or to stop thinking about something hard. This is one of the core signs, and in the 2025 study it tracked with depression, anxiety and loneliness.^[3]

4. Relapse: cutting back hasn't worked

You've tried to use it less and ended up back where you started, sometimes within days.

5. Withdrawal: you feel restless without it

You get irritable, anxious or troubled when you can't check, such as when a phone is taken away or the connection drops.

6. Conflict: it's hurting your work or studies

You use social media so much that your job or schoolwork has suffered.

How to Read Your Score

Your result page places you in one of four ranges, roughly by how many of the six signs you recognized.

Because salience and tolerance are weak signs on their own, a result built mostly on those two says less than one built on mood modification, relapse, withdrawal and conflict.^[3]

Is Social Media Addiction a Real Diagnosis?

Not yet. Neither the DSM-5, which clinicians in the US diagnose from, nor the World Health Organization's ICD-11 lists social media addiction as a disorder. The ICD-11 does recognize two behavioral addictions: gambling disorder and gaming disorder.^[3]

Researchers still disagree about whether heavy social media use is best described as an addiction at all. The authors of the 2025 study argued that scoring every enthusiastic user as "addicted" risks overdiagnosis.^[3] What a high score does tell you is that your use is behaving like a compulsion and costing you something. That's worth acting on, whatever it's called.

How Common Is Problematic Social Media Use?

• A WHO Europe survey of almost 280,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 found that problematic social media use rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022. It was higher in girls (13%) than in boys (9%).^[4]
• In a Pew Research Center survey of US teens, 45% said they spend too much time on social media, up from 27% in 2023. The same share, 45%, said it hurts their sleep.^[5]
• About a third of US teens say they use at least one of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook "almost constantly."^[5]

What the Research Says About Mental Health

In a study that followed 6,595 US adolescents aged 12 to 15, those who used social media more than three hours a day were more likely to report later problems such as anxiety, depression and withdrawal. After adjusting for other factors, the relative risk was 1.60 at three to six hours a day and 1.78 above six hours, compared with teens who didn't use social media.^[6]

That shows an association, not proof that social media caused the problems.^[6] Stronger evidence comes from experiments. A 2025 analysis of 10 randomized trials with 1,491 participants found that reducing social media use led to a small but reliable drop in depression symptoms. Programs that asked people to cut back showed about twice the effect of programs that asked them to quit, though that difference wasn't statistically significant.^[7]

What to Do After the Test

Whatever your result, these steps help most people take back some control. They're easier to start now than after a habit has dug in.

1. Turn off nonessential notifications and set downtime hours, so the app waits for you instead of calling you back.^[8]
2. Plan when you'll check, such as at lunch or after dinner, instead of letting the feed fill every spare minute.^[8]
3. Set one app limit on your heaviest platform and let the phone enforce it.
4. Move social apps off your home screen so opening one takes a deliberate search.
5. Charge your phone outside the bedroom for a week and notice what changes in your sleep.
6. Try a one-week break. Researchers have found a week away from social media can help reset mood and sleep.^[8]
7. Notice the ten seconds before you open the app. Bored, anxious, lonely? That feeling is usually what the habit is doing for you.

If your result was moderate or high, or these steps haven't held after a few weeks, a therapist who treats behavioral habits can help you work on what the habit is doing for you. That's usually the part keeping it in place.

Taking the Test for Your Teen

The test asks whether you're answering for yourself or someone else. If you answered for your child, treat the result as a starting point for a conversation, not a finding to present to them.

• Bring it to your pediatrician or a clinician who works with adolescents. They can look at mood, anxiety, attention and sleep, which often matter more than the hours.
• Avoid taking a phone away suddenly from a teen who uses it to manage how they feel, which can set off a serious reaction. Set changes together, give notice, and keep them about times and places rather than a total ban.
• If your child talks about hurting themselves, call or text 988. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline helps worried parents too.^[9] If they're in immediate danger, call 911.

For more on what to watch for at this age, see how social media affects teens.

When to Get Help

Talk to a professional if your result is high, if the steps above haven't held after a few weeks, or if social media use is tangled up with anxiety, low mood or loneliness. You can search for therapists who treat technology and behavioral addiction by state in the therapist directory, or see all your options on the get help page.

If you're in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988, any time of day.^[9]

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this social media addiction test accurate?

It is a screening questionnaire, not a diagnosis. Its six questions come from a research scale that has been studied in many countries, but this version uses yes-or-no answers instead of the published five-point scale, so it gives a rougher read.^[2] Use your result to decide whether to make changes or talk to someone, not to label yourself.

How many hours of social media is too much?

There is no agreed cutoff, which is why this test does not ask about hours. Control and cost matter more: whether you can cut back when you want to, and whether use is hurting your sleep, work or relationships. One large US study did find more anxiety and depression symptoms among teens using social media more than three hours a day.^[6]

Is social media addiction a real diagnosis?

Not yet. Neither the DSM-5 nor the ICD-11 lists it as a disorder. The ICD-11 recognizes gaming disorder and gambling disorder as behavioral addictions, but not social media use.^[3]

Can I take this test for my child?

Yes. The test asks whether you are answering for yourself or a loved one. Answer based on what you have seen, then bring the result to your child's pediatrician rather than presenting it to your child as a verdict.

What should I do if I score high?

Start with the practical steps on this page, such as turning off notifications and keeping the phone out of the bedroom, and consider talking to a therapist who treats behavioral habits. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.^[9]

How long does the social media addiction test take?

There are six yes-or-no questions, so most people finish in about two minutes, and the result appears as soon as you finish.

Related Guides

• How social media affects teens
• Social media addiction: signs and help
• Phone Addiction Test
• How to run a digital detox that holds
• The social media addiction lawsuits

Sources

1. Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016). The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30(2), 252-262.
2. Lin, C.-Y., Broström, A., Nilsen, P., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2017). Psychometric validation of the Persian Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale using classic test theory and Rasch models. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(4), 620-629.
3. Ciudad-Fernández, V., Fournier, L., Escrivá-Martínez, T., Baños, R., Zarco-Alpuente, A., & Billieux, J. (2025). Salience and tolerance are not indicators of problematic social media use: Evidence from the Social Media Disorder Scale and the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 14(3), 1380-1393.
4. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. (2024, September 25). Teens, screens and mental health.
5. Pew Research Center. (2025, July 10). 10 facts about teens and social media.
6. Riehm, K. E., Feder, K. A., Tormohlen, K. N., Crum, R. M., Young, A. S., Green, K. M., Pacek, L. R., La Flair, L. N., & Mojtabai, R. (2019). Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(12), 1266-1273.
7. May, W., Malouff, J. M., & Meynadier, J. (2025). Reducing social media use decreases depression symptoms: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 15(11), 222.
8. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2026). Understanding the new AAP digital media guidelines for screen time and social media.
9. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. (n.d.). 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.