A rise in social media use from ages 9 to 13 was linked to decrease scores in particular cognitive exams. Credit score: PxHere
Rising social media utilization amongst kids has been linked to a decline in cognitive efficiency. A JAMA research involving 6,554 adolescents aged 9–13 discovered that those that spent extra time on social media scored decrease in oral studying, reminiscence, and vocabulary exams.
A mean preteen spends about 5 ½ hours on screens every day for non-educational causes. A major chunk of that point is spent on social media, each creating their very own content material and consuming content material posted by others.
In contrast to passive display screen time like watching TV or movies, social media calls for energetic participation by means of scrolling, checking notifications, and fascinating with folks on-line. All these actions constantly have interaction components of the mind concerned in info processing and decision-making. This fixed have to hold the mind switched on makes social media much more mentally demanding than merely taking a look at a display screen.
Earlier research have proven that addictive social media use patterns are related to an elevated threat of psychological well being signs in younger folks. Nonetheless, its impact on cognitive efficiency—how effectively adolescents assume, be taught, and course of info—stays much less clear.
The researchers on this research aimed to research whether or not the period of time youngsters spend on social media as they develop up impacts their cognitive talents.
Social media time trajectories by age. Credit score: JAMA (2025). Doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.16613
For the evaluation, the workforce utilized information from the Adolescent Mind Cognitive Improvement (ABCD) research, a large-scale longitudinal initiative that tracks kids from late childhood by means of adolescence. This community of 21 analysis websites is monitoring the mind improvement, cognitive talents, and behavioral modifications of 11,880 kids as they mature yr by yr.
The researchers chosen 6,554 adolescents for the research, with 51.1% male and 48.9% feminine members. They collected information at three time factors: baseline (2016–2018, ages 9–10), yr 1 (2017–2019), and yr 2 (2018–2020).
To trace how the social media habits of the youngsters modified as they grew, the workforce used a statistical method referred to as group-based trajectory modeling. This strategy allowed them to determine three distinct patterns of social media utilization: the bulk (57.6%) confirmed no or very low use, a few third (36.6%) had low however steadily rising use, and a small group (5.8%) demonstrated excessive and rising use over time.
To measure cognitive efficiency, researchers used the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery—a set of standardized exams assessing oral studying, sequential reminiscence, sample comparability velocity, and film vocabulary.
The outcomes revealed that children within the high-increasing social media use group scored the bottom in a number of cognitive exams, particularly the language and reminiscence ones. Efficiency scores declined as social media use rose, with kids within the very low or no-use group scoring the very best total. These findings additional solidify the necessity for stricter age restrictions throughout social media platforms.
The research was observational, that means it might determine correlations however not set up causation. To design efficient interventions, additional analysis is required to discover the mechanisms driving cognitive decline and decide how particular social media platforms contribute to those results.
Written for you by our creator Sanjukta Mondal, edited by Sadie Harley, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this text is the results of cautious human work. We depend on readers such as you to maintain impartial science journalism alive.
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Extra info:
Jason M. Nagata et al, Social Media Use Trajectories and Cognitive Efficiency in Adolescents, JAMA (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2025.16613
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