Karolinska Study Links Heavy Social Media Use to Declining Concentration in Children
The research, published in Pediatrics Open Science, tracked more than 8,000 children in the United States from the ages of 9–10 through early adolescence.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A major new study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet has found that children who spend extensive time on social media gradually develop difficulties concentrating, raising fresh concerns about the long-term cognitive impact of digital consumption on young people.
The research, published in Pediatrics Open Science, tracked more than 8,000 children in the United States from the ages of 9–10 through early adolescence. Over four years, the children reported how much time they spent on social media, television, videos, and video games, while their parents assessed their attention levels and any signs of hyperactivity or impulsivity.
Social media identified as a key factor
According to the findings, heavy use of social media platforms—including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Messenger—was associated with a gradual increase in inattentiveness. No similar link was found for watching television or playing video games.
“Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate,” said Professor Torkel Klingberg, a cognitive neuroscience expert at Karolinska Institutet. “Constant notifications and incoming messages create ongoing distractions, and even the anticipation of a message can interrupt a child’s focus.”
Effects small for individuals, significant across the population
The study noted that the association was not affected by socioeconomic background or genetic predisposition to ADHD. It also found that children who already struggled with attention were not more likely to increase their use of social media, suggesting that the symptoms followed the use, and not the other way around.
Hyperactivity and impulsivity did not increase among heavy users. Researchers emphasized that while the effect on any single child may be small, the collective impact across society could be meaningful.
“Greater consumption of social media might explain part of the rise in ADHD diagnoses, even if hyperactivity—another major component of ADHD—did not increase in our study,” Klingberg added.
Call for informed decisions about children’s digital habits
The researchers stressed that the findings do not mean that all children who use social media will develop concentration problems. However, they highlighted the need for discussions about age limits and platform design. On average, daily social media use increased from around 30 minutes among 9-year-olds to 2.5 hours among 13-year-olds—despite many platforms officially restricting use to those aged 13 and above.
“We hope our findings will help parents and policymakers make well-informed decisions about healthy digital consumption that supports children’s cognitive development,” said Samson Nivins, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet.
The research team plans to continue monitoring the participants beyond age 14 to determine whether the association persists. The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Masonic Home for Children in Stockholm Foundation, with no reported conflicts of interest.