Social media has long been feared for its potential adverse effects on children, ranging from privacy concerns to bullying and everything in between. But now a new study warns that the increased use of these platforms could also harm children’s mental health and their ability to concentrate. Research tracking thousands of children across the US over several early years shows that frequent scrolling and persistent notifications are not just harmless habits. In fact, they may contribute to an increase in ADHD-like symptoms.

The study was jointly conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Oregon Health & Science University as part of the long-running ABCD study in the US. During the study, researchers looked at how much time children spent on various digital activities. The findings showed that participants watched an average of about 2.3 hours per day of television or online videos, used 1.4 hours of social media and spent 1.5 hours playing video games. But among all these activities, only social media use showed a measurable link to attention difficulties.

The researchers note that video game and TV consumption did not show the same relationship with inattention, which challenges common assumptions that all screen time affects children in the same way.

“We identified an association between social media use and increased inattention symptoms, which is interpreted here as a possible causal effect,” the researchers say. While the impact may be small for any one child, they warn that the overall impact at a population level could be significant if children’s digital behavior continues to lean more towards social media. This pattern also persisted regardless of socioeconomic background or the child’s genetic predisposition toward ADHD, suggesting that the effect is widespread rather than limited to specific groups.

Professor Torkel Klingberg of Karolinska Institutet, one of the study’s senior authors, suggests that these findings highlight a unique challenge posed by social platforms compared to other types of digital media. They argue that the constant flow of information, messages, and updates is particularly disruptive to the developing brain’s ability to stay focused. “Our study suggests that it is social media in particular that affects children’s ability to concentrate,” he says. Even the anticipation of a message can act as a mental distraction, pulling children away from school work or other tasks, he added.

Additionally, studies show that social media use continues to increase as children grow older, from about 30 minutes a day at age nine to about 2.5 hours a day by age 13. Researchers called this worrying, given that most major platforms set the minimum age for creating an account at 13. Yet many young children are still accessing social apps. The researchers highlight the need for stronger age-verification tools and clear content and safety guidelines from tech companies.