It is not the screen itself but the social feed that damages a child’s attention span, according to a major study that clears video games and television of blame.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet followed 8,324 children in the United States for four years. They found that those who spent significant time on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram experienced a gradual decline in their ability to concentrate.
Crucially, the study found no such association for children watching television or playing video games, despite a sharp rise in general screen use coinciding with increased ADHD diagnoses.
“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.”
Inattention symptoms
The study tracked children from ages 9–10 through to 14, finding that the average time spent on social media rose dramatically from approximately 30 minutes a day for nine-year-olds to 2.5 hours a day for 13-year-olds.
The data revealed that children who frequently used platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Messenger gradually developed inattention symptoms. This decline was not influenced by socioeconomic background or a genetic predisposition towards ADHD.
Significantly, the researchers found that children who already had symptoms of inattentiveness did not increase their use of social media, suggesting that the association runs from use to symptoms, not vice versa.
Whilst the effect on concentration was small at the individual level, the researchers noted that it could have a significant impact at a population level. However, the team found no increase in hyperactive or impulsive behaviour associated with social media use.
“Greater consumption of social media might explain part of the increase we’re seeing in ADHD diagnoses, even if ADHD is also associated with hyperactivity, which didn’t increase in our study,” said Professor Klingberg.
The researchers stress that while not all children will develop difficulties, the findings should prompt discussions about platform design and usage limits — especially given that many platforms set minimum age requirements at 13, yet usage is high among younger children.
“We hope that our findings will help parents and policymakers make well-informed decisions on healthy digital consumption that support children’s cognitive development,” said Samson Nivins, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health.
