Teenagers have fewer friends than 20 years ago, research has shown - despite the increasing popularity of social media.

研究表明，与20年前相比较，尽管社交媒体越来越受人们的欢迎，但是青少年的朋友却日益减少。

A study carried out by experts at The University of Queensland in Australia, found teens felt less lonely than two decades ago – but that they have poorer social networks.

来自澳大利亚昆士兰州大学（The University of Queensland）的专家调查发现，尽管青少年的生活相比20年前孤独感在减少，但是他们的社交圈子越来越小。

A survey of more than 285,000 US high school students carried out between 1991 and 2012 found young people had fewer friends with whom to interact, but less desire for more friends.

一份历时12年（从1991年到2012年）、涵盖28.5万高中生的研究发现，虽然年轻人的朋友越来越少，但是他们更多交友的意向并无增多。

The Globe and Mail quotes the findings of research, printed in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, which suggests economic changes may have prompted increased individuality among young people. 

《环球邮报》（The Globe and Mail）引用刊登在《个性和社会心理学学报》（the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin）上的调查结果指出：经济增长可能会促进年轻人个人主义的增长。

The authors behind the study, wrote: ‘Greater economic opportunities offer individuals more latitude to manage their own money, decide whom to date and decide whom to marry, reducing the influence of kin and giving people more autonomy, which may increase individualism.

该研究的撰写人写道：“经济越宽裕，个体的选择范围越大。如何支配金钱，和谁约会、结婚，都更加自主。家族的影响减弱了，人们拥有更多自主权，个人主义也可能随之增强。

‘Economic changes lead to increased individuality, which could lead to decreasing interest in friends, increasing self-reliance, increasing self-esteem and decreasing loneliness.’

“经济变化促使个人主义的增长的同时，可能导致人们交友兴趣减弱，使人们更多的转向自立、增强自尊、减少孤独感。”

Lead researcher, Dr David Clark said further research on cultures outside of the US would help determine if modernisation is the root cause of the observed results.

首席研究员大卫·克拉克（Dr David Clark）博士说，就现代化是否是造成已知结果的根本原因这一点，还有待在美国以外的其他文化中进一步研究。

He said: 'If other cultures show the same pattern of reduced loneliness in the face of poorer social networks, this would support the idea that modernisation is responsible.'

他说：“如果其他文化在面对糟糕的社交网络时也显示出相同的孤独减少模式，那么这个结果将支持“现代化是已知结果的根源”这一假说。”

The findings come after a series of studies have shown that the growing use of social networking sites has had a negative affect on the quality of people's friendships.

一系列研究表明，社交网络使用的增多不利于人们友情的提高。自此，研究人员得出了上述结论。

A study from 2006 by sociologists at Duke University also showed that on average most adults only have two people they can talk to about the most important subjects in their lives while one quarter had no close confidants at all.

来自杜克大学（Duke University）的社会学家2006的一项研究也表明，平均来讲，大多数成年人只有两个真正的知己，而四分之一的人根本没有一个可以说知心话的人。

（翻译：xysweetxy 编辑：陈丹妮）