“Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate.”
A barrage of AI-generated brain rot is haunting children across numerous screens, from personal smartphones to school-issued laptops to televisions.
Social media is adding significantly to that cacophony, making it harder than ever for kids to concentrate. Now, new research from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Oregon Health & Science University has found a significant link between screen time and diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), suggesting that exposing young brains to social media could have major mental health implications.
As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Pediatrics Open Science, the researchers followed 8,324 children aged nine to ten years old in the US for four years. The children self-reported how much time they spent on social media, watching TV, or playing video games. Their parents also assessed their ability to pay attention and any signs of hyperactivity.
There was a clear link between social media use and an attention deficit, raising the possibility that the constant sensory assault by online services like TikTok and Snapchat could be robbing kids of the ability to focus. That’s in contrast to TV or video game use, which showed no clear association with symptoms of ADHD.
“Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate,” said coauthor and Karolinska Institutet professor of cognitive neuroscience Torkel Klingberg in a statement.
The researchers found that over the four years, children went from spending an average of 30 minutes a day to 2.5 hours a day on social media. Meanwhile, inattention symptoms also increased.
“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,” Klingberg added. “This affects the ability to stay focused and could explain the association.”….
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/social-media-children-adhd
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