Increasing social media usage among children has been linked to a decline in cognitive performance. A JAMA study involving 6,554 adolescents aged 9–13 found that those who spent more time on social media scored lower in oral reading, memory, and vocabulary tests.

An average preteen spends about 5 ½ hours on screens each day for non-educational reasons. A significant chunk of that time is spent on social media, both creating their own content and consuming content posted by others.

Unlike passive screen time like watching TV or videos, social media demands active participation through scrolling, checking notifications, and engaging with people online. All these activities continuously engage parts of the brain involved in information processing and decision-making. This constant need to keep the brain switched on makes social media far more mentally demanding than merely looking at a screen.

Previous studies have shown that addictive social media use patterns are associated with an increased risk of mental health symptoms in young people. However, its effect on cognitive performance—how well adolescents think, learn, and process information—remains less clear.

The researchers in this study aimed to investigate whether the amount of time teenagers spend on social media as they grow up impacts their cognitive abilities.

For the analysis, the team utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large-scale longitudinal initiative that tracks children from late childhood through adolescence. This network of 21 research sites is monitoring the brain development, cognitive abilities, and behavioral changes of 11,880 children as they mature year by year.

The researchers selected 6,554 adolescents for the study, with 51.1% male and 48.9% female participants. They collected data at three time points: baseline (2016–2018, ages 9–10), year 1 (2017–2019), and year 2 (2018–2020).

To track how the social media habits of the children changed as they grew, the team used a statistical technique called group-based trajectory modeling. This approach allowed them to identify three distinct patterns of social media usage: the majority (57.6%) showed no or very low use, about a third (36.6%) had low but steadily increasing use, and a small group (5.8%) demonstrated high and rising use over time.

To measure cognitive performance, researchers used the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery—a suite of standardized tests assessing oral reading, sequential memory, pattern comparison speed, and picture vocabulary.

The results revealed that kids in the high-increasing social media use group scored the lowest in multiple cognitive tests, especially the language and memory ones. Performance scores declined as social media use rose, with children in the very low or no-use group scoring the highest overall. These findings further solidify the need for stricter age restrictions across social media platforms.

The study was observational, meaning it could identify correlations but not establish causation. To design effective interventions, further research is needed to explore the mechanisms driving cognitive decline and determine how specific social media platforms contribute to these effects.

© 2025 Science X Network