The latest study may go some way towards explaining the trend. It said a loss of ’emotional intelligence’ is likely to be because social interactions increasingly take place online. When youngsters conduct friendships mostly via social media in written form, they miss out on social cues such as body language and voice tone.

It said ’emotionality’ – which comprises ’emotion expression, perception, relationship skills and empathy – fell by 11 per cent.

It said a possible reason for the findings ‘is the rise of electronic communication, especially social media which has been linked to poor wellbeing’.