We have already told you about the negative effects of the use of social networks on the mental health of adolescents: now a study published in JAMA has investigated a topic less explored by research, that of cognitive performance.
The results show that pre-adolescents who use social media for several hours a day perform worse in reading, vocabulary and memory tests than those who use them little or not at all.
Memory and reading. The scholars analyzed data relating to over 6,000 children between the ages of 9 and 10, followed up to pre-adolescence as part of the ABCD study. The participants were divided into three groups based on the daily time spent on social media – almost zero for 58%, one hour per day at 13 years old for 37%, more than three hours per day at 13 years old for 6%.
All groups underwent tests to measure cognitive performance at the beginning of the study and during preadolescence. If those who rarely used social media scored on average 1 or 2 points less in reading and memory than those who didn’t use them, the most frequent users (3+ hours) scored on average 4 or 5 points less.
Negative confirmations. The results, which highlight a correlation (but not causality) between social media and worsening of cognitive performance, are in line with what was discovered in the past by the same research team: half of the kids questioned in the past claimed to lose track of time using their smartphone, and one in four recognized that they use social media to forget about problems. Finally, 11% admitted that TikTok & co negatively affected their school performance.
Changing the rules. “After the first year of life, adolescence is the time of maximum growth and reorganization of the brain”, says psychologist Mitch Prinstein, not involved in the research, who recalls: “if the brain grows optimized for social activities, it may not optimize itself for other necessary tasks, as seen in the study”.
The results confirm the need to adopt increasingly stringent laws that prevent children from subscribing to social media.
