Over the past two decades, the digital revolution has transformed childhood in ways no previous generation experienced. Smartphones, social networks, and constant connectivity have become a normal part of teenage life. At the same time, diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have risen sharply across many countries. This parallel growth has fueled an intense debate: is there a connection between digital media use and worsening attention in young people? A new large-scale study suggests the answer may be more nuanced than commonly assumed. Rather than blaming all screen time equally, researchers found that social media use – not gaming or video streaming – is associated with a gradual increase in attention problems among adolescents.
To investigate how digital habits relate to attention, researchers followed more than 8,000 children over a four-year period, starting when the participants were around ten years old and continuing until they were about 14. This age range is particularly important, as it coincides with rapid brain development and the period when many children first gain access to smartphones and social platforms.
The researchers asked participants to report how much time they spent on different types of digital activities. These were divided into three categories: video gaming, watching TV or online videos (such as YouTube), and social media. Social media included popular platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger, and X. The team then analyzed whether usage of these media types predicted changes over time in the two core symptoms of ADHD: inattentiveness and hyperactivity.
The results were striking. Increased social media use was linked to a gradual rise in inattentiveness over the years. In contrast, time spent gaming or watching videos showed no such association. Importantly, these findings remained consistent even after researchers accounted for factors such as family income and genetic risk for ADHD.
One of the most important questions in this debate is whether social media causes attention problems, or whether children who already struggle with attention are simply more drawn to social platforms. To address this, the researchers tested whether inattentiveness predicted later increases in social media use. It did not. Instead, the relationship ran in one direction: higher social media use predicted later increases in inattentiveness. This strengthens the argument that social media may be contributing to attention problems, rather than merely attracting children who already have them.
These findings challenge the widespread belief that all screen time is inherently harmful. If screens themselves were the problem, gaming and video streaming should have shown similar effects. They did not. This also undermines the popular idea that all digital media disrupts attention through constant “dopamine hits.” The absence of negative effects from gaming and video consumption suggests that the mechanisms at work are more specific.
As cognitive neuroscientists, the researchers point to a plausible explanation. Social media differs fundamentally from other screen-based activities in how it fragments attention. Notifications, endless feeds, and the anticipation of incoming messages create a constant background of mental distraction. Even when a user is not actively checking their phone, the mere thought that something might be happening online can interrupt focus. These moment-to-moment disruptions may impair concentration in the short term. When they persist daily over months or years, they may gradually shape the brain’s ability to sustain attention.
Gaming, by contrast, tends to occur in defined sessions and typically requires continuous focus on a single task. Rather than dividing attention, games often demand it.
At an individual level, the effect of social media on attention was relatively modest. It was not strong enough to turn a child with typical attention into someone who clearly meets diagnostic criteria for ADHD. However, small shifts across an entire population can have large consequences. When the average level of attentiveness declines even slightly, a significant number of individuals may cross the diagnostic threshold.
The researchers offer a theoretical illustration: if average social media use increased by one hour per day across the population, ADHD diagnoses could rise by approximately 30%. While this is a simplified estimate and real-world diagnoses depend on many factors, it highlights how population-wide exposure can amplify modest individual effects.
The scale of social media exposure among teenagers today is unprecedented. Twenty years ago, social media barely existed. Today, teenagers spend an average of around five hours per day online, much of it on social platforms.
The proportion of teenagers who describe themselves as “constantly online” has nearly doubled in less than a decade, rising from 24% in 2015 to 46% in 2023. This dramatic increase in usage coincides closely with the period during which ADHD diagnoses have surged. While greater awareness and reduced stigma likely account for part of the rise in diagnoses, they do not rule out a genuine increase in inattentiveness. Some studies claiming that attention problems have not increased may be misleading, as they often focus on children too young to own smartphones or examine time periods that largely predate the explosion of social media use.
If social media contributes to worsening attention, the question becomes how societies should respond. Many countries already impose age limits on social platforms. In the United States, children must technically be at least 13 years old to create accounts, but these rules are easily bypassed and weakly enforced. Australia has taken a far more assertive approach. From December 10, 2025, social media companies operating in Australia will be legally required to ensure that users are at least 16 years old. Companies that fail to comply face substantial penalties. This policy represents the most ambitious attempt so far to limit young people’s exposure to social media. Its effectiveness remains to be seen, but it may offer valuable evidence for other countries grappling with similar concerns.
The findings of this study suggest that the debate around screens and children needs to become more precise. Rather than treating all digital media as equally harmful, policymakers, parents, and educators may need to focus specifically on the unique attention-fragmenting features of social media.
Social media has reshaped how teenagers communicate, socialize, and express themselves. Its benefits are real, but so are its risks. As evidence accumulates, the challenge will be to strike a balance that preserves connection and creativity without quietly eroding one of the most fundamental cognitive skills: the ability to pay attention.
If Australia’s experiment succeeds, it may point the way toward a future in which the digital lives of young people are shaped more deliberately – and more safely – than they have been so far.
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