San Francisco – September 19, 2026 -- A new national poll from Hopelab and Data for Progress finds that 88% of young people ages 13 to 24 engage in doomscrolling, with roughly half reporting they lose more than an hour of sleep on nights they scroll negative or upsetting content. The findings arrive as Meta implements a landmark child safety settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories requiring overnight curfews, school-hour notification limits, and daily time caps for teens on Instagram and Facebook.
Doomscrolling hits 32% of young people daily, concentrated at bedtime
Of the 88% who reported the habit, 32% said they doomscroll every day or multiple times a day. Roughly two-thirds said the behavior peaks during free time or before bed over the prior two weeks, directly overlapping with the sleep window Meta's new curfew provisions target.
Sleep losses cluster above the one-hour mark for half of users
About 50% of respondents said doomscrolling costs them more than an hour of sleep on affected nights. Another 25% reported losing 30 to 60 minutes, and 18% lost 15 to 30 minutes, indicating the practice carries measurable nightly sleep-debt across nearly the entire surveyed population.
Six in 10 report emotional exhaustion, yet most say the habit keeps them informed
Sixty percent of young people said doomscrolling leaves them anxious, mentally exhausted, overwhelmed, angry, or hopeless. Despite the toll, 76% said it helps them stay informed about issues -- the most commonly cited effect -- and 60% said it motivates them to take action such as advocating, changing behavior, or donating.
Researchers argue platform design, not willpower, drives the pattern
"Our data show just how much sleep young people are losing to nighttime scrolling," said Mike Parent, Principal Researcher at Hopelab. He called Meta's settlement-mandated overnight pause "a real acknowledgment that platform design, not just individual willpower, is part of the problem," while noting implementation still leans heavily on parental controls rather than product design built for youth from the outset.
Youth advocate says one settlement won't resolve platform-wide sleep loss
Abhinav Anne, a college student and mental health policy advocate, said young people are the ones losing sleep and scrolling past upsetting content late at night, arguing that a single company settlement won't fix the underlying issue and that young people need direct input on future design decisions.
The report's authors caution against blanket disconnect-messaging, since most respondents say scrolling keeps them informed and motivated. Instead, they recommend pre-bed alternatives such as reading fiction with generally positive themes, alongside faster, less algorithm-driven methods for young people to get news updates.