This article explores the influence of attachment on young people’s use of mobiles and social media. From childhood on, we establish bonds with those around us and come to shape our way of relating to others. The predominant way in which we bond emotionally with others is called our attachment style, and this attachment can be secure or insecure. Secure attachment is characterised by a trustful and stable relationship with others, while insecure attachment is determined by fear of rejection or abandonment by others. This fear will be manifested as avoidant fearful attachment if the individual seeks to protect him or herself from relationships that might be harmful; to this end, the establishment of emotional bonds is avoided. In the avoidant dismissive attachment style, an attitude of self-sufficiency is adopted and interaction with others is completely rejected. Lastly, when the affection and approval of others is sought in excess, what is known as anxious attachment is generated.

The study explored the interplay between attachment and mobile usage time, and also the intensity with which young people use the mobile phone for two activities that can be considered distinct in the relational sphere: communication and escapism. Lastly, all the above was correlated with young people’s relational satisfaction, as regards both family members and close friends. Almost half (47%) of the 1,200 young people aged 18 to 24 interviewed in the study displayed secure attachment. Among the rest, avoidant fearful attachment prevailed (22%), followed by avoidant dismissive (16%) and anxious attachment (15%). Women showed a secure attachment style more frequently than men. However, when they develop some sort of insecure attachment, it tends to be avoidant fearful. On the other hand, avoidant dismissive and anxious attachment styles are more common among men.

Spanish young people use their mobile phone mostly to communicate with others. However, close to half of the respondents recognised that they make frequent or very frequent use of their mobile to escape from realities they find uncomfortable. Certain motivations behind mobile use are inherently relational, that is, connection with other people is sought. But the mobile can also be used as an instrument of disconnection from others or escape from reality.

Communicative mobile use is slightly less common among young men, while this use remains fairly constant among young women. Escapist use follows a similar pattern, although in this case more women than men recognise the need to use the mobile to forget realities they find uncomfortable.

Between the ages of 18 and 24, the general trend is towards a drop in the use of social media, from around three hours a day to about two and a half hours a day. This downward trend can be seen among both young people with secure attachment and those with insecure attachment.

On the whole, young people with insecure attachment spend slightly longer per day on social media. On average, the difference is small (five minutes per day), although it is perhaps slightly more pronounced at the ages associated with transitions: 18 (transition from school to university or employment) and as of 22 (for many, the end of their university years). In the intervening years (age 20 and 21), times are practically the same regardless of their attachment styles.

Therefore, differences between young people with secure and insecure attachment in mobile usage time are not substantial. Their reasons for resorting to the mobile phone are more telling than their usage time.

Insecure attachment styles denote some difficulty in relating to others. As a result, it is not surprising to find differences in the way technology is used, especially with regard to uses that bring one closer to others and connect with them (communication or socialisation) and those that involve distancing oneself from others or from reality (escapism).

At certain ages, a notable distancing occurs between young people with secure and insecure attachment, as regards mobile use to communicate or to escape. This happens especially between the ages of 18 and 20. In this age range, young people with insecure attachment frequently use their mobile to communicate approximately 8% less, and use it to escape around 5% more.

In the study on which this article is based, the average satisfaction score of young people aged 18 to 24 with secure attachment is 7.5 on a scale of 10. Young people with insecure attachment yield a somewhat lower relational satisfaction score: 7.1 out of 10. But the gap is wider when one takes into account how they use their mobile.

Among young people with secure attachment, those who communicate frequently have high and stable relational satisfaction scores (over 7.5 on a scale of 10), regardless of whether they also escape. Those who neither communicate nor escape may be young people who use mobiles little in general, so their secure attachment keeps them at an acceptable satisfaction score.

In contrast, among young people with insecure attachment, the trend lines are almost parallel: communicating frequently (dark grey and blue) is important for them. Satisfaction is greater if they use their mobile to communicate rather than escape. If they escape and do not communicate, their relational satisfaction is low, although as time passes, they seem to gradually achieve greater satisfaction.

This article has shown minor quantitative differences between the prevalent attachment style among young people and the way they use their mobile phone. On the one hand, it has been observed that the main differences do not occur in relation to usage time: although young people with insecure attachment spend longer on social media than those who have secure attachment, the difference is never more than ten minutes a day, with an average difference of five minutes a day (between the ages of 18 and 24). On the other hand, differences as regards how the mobile is used are greater. Secure attachment is related to a more communicative mobile use. Thus, the reasons why young people use their mobile and their types of attachment have been associated with these young people’s relational satisfaction with regard to their family and friends. Relationships are equally satisfactory among those with secure attachment and those who have insecure attachment if the latter use their mobile to communicate rather than escape. In other words, mobile use for the purpose of communication with others is associated with greater satisfaction in personal relationships. The results of the study point to lack of communication, rather than escapism, as being related to worse satisfaction scores.

The study carried out is based on 15-minute telephone interviews with a representative panel of young people aged 18 to 24, in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The data presented in this article reflect non-causal associations between the aspects analysed. That is, although, for example, an escapist use may lead to lower satisfaction with personal relationships, relational deterioration may be the cause (rather than the consequence) of a more avoidant mobile use. Indeed, the two effects may coexist and feed off each other. Lastly, it should be borne in mind that the first wave of data collection took place in 2020, coinciding with the onset of the pandemic caused by covid-19. Some of the effects observed in successive years may be due in part to the improvement in respondents’ living conditions: the end of the lockdown and restrictions on movement, the greater health protection provided by vaccination, etc. Even though it affected society as a whole, this cannot be ruled out or ignored when interpreting the results of the study.

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