Social media use damages children’s ability to focus, say researchers

Key Highlights

• However, the study found that social media use over a period of time was associated with an increase in inattention symptoms in children.
• ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms including impulsiveness, forgetting everyday tasks and difficulty focusing.“We identified an association between social media use and increased inattention symptoms, interpreted here as a likely causal effect,” said the study.
• “Although the effect size is small at individual level, it could have significant consequences if behaviour changes across population level.
• These findings suggest that social media use may contribute to rising incidence of ADHD diagnoses.”Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, said: “Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate.“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.”The study found the ADHD link was not affected by socioeconomic background or a genetic predisposition towards the condition.