At Snap, nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our Snapchat community. We have in place, and consistently enforce, policies and rules that detail the type of content and behavior that are acceptable on Snapchat. We offer tools and resources to help Snapchatters stay safe, and we engage with others in industry and across the tech sector to better protect teens and younger users in particular.

To offer insight into how teens and young adults are faring online, four years ago, we launched a five-year research project into Generation Z’s digital well-being. Since 2022, we’ve surveyed teens (aged 13-17), young adults (aged 18-24), and parents of teens, aged 13 to 19, in six countries: Australia, France, Germany, India, the UK, and the U.S. The study produces a Digital Well-Being Index (DWBI): a measure of Gen Z’s online psychological well-being.

The fourth Digital Well-Being Index for the six geographies stands at 64, one percentage point higher than the previous year, and still a somewhat average reading on a scale of 0 to 100 – neither particularly favorable, nor especially worrisome. By country, India again registered the highest DWBI reading at 69, up two points from Year Three. The U.S. DWBI also rose two points to 67. All other countries’ readings were up one point from the prior year.

The index leverages the PERNA model, a variation on an existing research vehicle, comprising 20 sentiment statements across five categories: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Negative Emotion, and Achievement. Respondents were asked to state their level of agreement with each of the 20 statements, taking into account all of their online experiences on any platform, service, device, or application (not just Snapchat) over the preceding three months. (The research was conducted from April 29 - May 10, 2025.) To review all 20 DWBI sentiment statements, see this link.

A DWBI score was calculated for each respondent based on the 20 sentiment statements. Their scores were aggregated into four DWBI groups: Flourishing (13%, +3 percentage points from Year Three); Thriving (45%, up 1 percentage point from 2024), Middling (36%, down 3 percentage points from Year Three), and Struggling (6%, down one percentage point from 2024). (See, below for details.)