By Michaela Gordoni
A new study found that social media is causing kids’ attention to drop.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Oregon Health & Science University in the US surveyed over 8,000 kids from age 10 until they were 14. Based on their digital use, it grouped them into three categories: gaming, social media and TV/video, Medical Xpress noted.
Of all categories, those who primarily used social media had increases in inattentiveness, while the gaming and TV/videos categories did not. The pattern persisted regardless of genetic risk for ADHD, medication that they took and their families’ income. It also doesn’t differ between genders, the European Medical Journal observed.
Unlike videos and gaming, social media is a barrage of constant distractions.
“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,” said study researcher Torkel Klingberg.
The researchers, who are cognitive neuroscientists, say if the entire population is becoming more inattentive, then there will be many more people diagnosed with ADHD. The researchers believe an increase of one hour of social media use in the entire population would increase diagnosis by about 30%.
The National Institutes of Health says ADHD affects about 5% of children and 3% of adults, but that number is likely getting higher. The U.S. national survey of children’s health offers competing statistics, reporting that ADHD affected 9.5% of children in 2007, and affects 11.3% of children in 2022.
Already, many children, teens and even adults are flooding into psychiatry offices claiming they have ADHD. This is thanks to thousands of TikTok videos (many of which are misleading) of ADHDers explaining their symptoms.
“Mental health exists on a spectrum, and social media is democratizing access to this information,” said Vasileia Karasavva, lead author of a study that found half of ADHD videos on TikTok are misleading. “To get a diagnosis of ADHD, it’s a very expensive, long and involved process. People are frustrated by this and in a way, we have gatekept support on mental health.”
The Karolinska study authors say their findings highlight the need for strict age verification restrictions and guidelines for social media users, like Australia recently implemented.
“We hope that our findings will help parents and policymakers make well-informed decisions on healthy digital consumption that supports children’s cognitive development,” said researcher Samson Nivins.
If you’re child struggles to pay attention, maybe consider their social media use.
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