Jakarta, domclub Indonesia
—
Study
recently found increasing use
social media
by children can damage their concentration levels and contribute to cases of attention deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD).
The peer-reviewed report tracked the development of more than 8,300 United States (US) children aged 10 to 14 and linked social media use to “increased symptoms of inability to concentrate.”
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Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Oregon Health & Science University in the US found that children spend an average of 2.3 hours a day watching television or online videos, 1.4 hours on social media and 1.5 hours playing video games.
No association was found between ADHD-related symptoms, such as being easily distracted, and playing video games or watching TV and YouTube.
However, the study found that social media use over a period of time was associated with increased symptoms of inability to concentrate in children.
ADHD is a disorder
neurodevelopmental
with symptoms including impulsivity, forgetting daily tasks, and difficulty concentrating.
“We identified an association between social media use and increased symptoms of inability to concentrate, which is interpreted here as a possible causal effect,” said the study, quoted from
The Guardian
, Monday (8/12).
“While the effect size is small at the individual level, it could have significant consequences if behavior changes at the population level. These findings suggest that social media use may be contributing to the increased incidence of ADHD diagnoses,” he added.
Torkel Klingberg, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, said his studies show that social media specifically affects children’s ability to concentrate.
“Social media involves constant distractions in the form of messages and notifications, and just thinking about whether a message has come through can be a mental distraction. This affects the ability to stay focused and be able to explain the relationship,” he said.
The study found that the association with ADHD was not influenced by socioeconomic background or genetic predisposition to the condition.
Klingberg added that increased social media use may explain some of the increase in ADHD diagnoses.
According to the national survey of children’s health in the US, its prevalence among children increased from 9.5 percent in 2003-2007 to 11.3 percent in 2020-2022.
The researchers emphasized that these results do not mean that all children who use social media experience problems concentrating.However, they highlight the increasing use of social media by children as they get older and the use of social media by children long before they turn 13, the minimum age for apps like TikTok and Instagram.
“This earlier and increasing use of social media highlights the need for stricter age verification and clearer guidelines for technology companies,” the report explains.
The study also found a steady increase in social media use, from around 30 minutes per day at age nine to two and a half hours per day at age 13.
The children were enrolled in the study at ages nine and 10 between 2016 and 2018. The study itself will be published in the journal Pediatrics Open Science.
“We hope our findings can help parents and policymakers make well-informed decisions regarding healthy digital consumption that supports children’s cognitive development,” said Samson Nivins, one of the study authors and a post-doctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institute.
(lom/dmi)
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