Study warns excessive social media use affects children’s concentration

A study of over 8,000 children aged 9–14 found that spending more than 30 minutes daily on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook may gradually impair attention, though TV or video game use showed no such effect.

New Delhi: Children who spend more than 30 minutes on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are likely to experience a gradual decline in their ability to concentrate, according to a study of more than 8,000 children from around age 10 through age 14.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Oregon Health & Science University in the US investigated a possible link between screen habits and symptoms related to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

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They followed 8,324 children aged 9-14 in the US for four years, with the average time children spent on social media, watching TV/videos, and playing video games — from approximately 30 minutes a day for 9-year-olds to 2.5 hours for 13-year-olds.

Children who spent a significant amount of time on social media platforms, such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or Messenger, gradually developed inattention symptoms, revealed the findings.

In the study, the average time spent on social media rose from approximately 30 minutes a day for 9-year-olds to 2.5 hours for 13-year-olds, despite the fact that many platforms set their minimum age requirement at 13.

The study, published in Pediatrics Open Science, however, found no such association among children watching television or playing video games.

“Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate,” said Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.

“Social media entails constant distractions in the form of messages and notifications, and the mere thought of whether a message has arrived can act as a mental distraction. This affects the ability to stay focused and could explain the association,” Klingberg added.

The association was not influenced by socioeconomic background or a genetic predisposition towards ADHD.

In addition, children who already had symptoms of inattentiveness did not start to use social media more, which suggests that the association leads from use to symptoms and not vice versa.

The researchers found no increase in hyperactive/impulsive behaviour. While the effect on concentration was small at the individual level. At a population level, however, it could have a significant impact, they said.