ArticleScientific reports2022
The impact of digital media on children's intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of social media on cognitive development of children and young adults: a systematic review.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Associations between meeting 24h movement behavior guidelines and cognition, gray matter volume, and academic performance in children and adolescents: a systematic review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Taming the endless scroll? Short-form videos, digital routines and neurocognitive outcomes in youth : a systematic literature review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Review
- Associations of adolescent social media use trajectories with spatial and verbal memory: a prospective cohort study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Mental Health Professionals' Views on Gaming to Inform Game-Based Interventions: Qualitative Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- Motives of Children for Digital Gaming and Physical Activity and Their Parents' Perceptions: Cross-Sectional Matched-Pair Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2026Article
- Negative problem orientation and social problem solving in esports: indirect role of cognitive flexibility.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Digital Media, Genetics, and Risk for ADHD Symptoms in Children: A Longitudinal Study.Pediatrics open science · 2026Article
- Digital media use and cognitive networks in medical students: linking screen time with intelligence and academic performance.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Associations between social media and crystallized and fluid performance trajectories in early adolescence.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2025Article
- Changed detection: No relationship between working memory and media usage in Covid-era and contemporary young adults.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2025Article
- The Digital Media-use Effects (d-MUsE) Model: A comprehensive framework for exploring/studying functional and dysfunctional effects on adolescent wellbeing.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Review
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- Article
- Long-term impact of digital media on brain development in children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Action video games normalise the phonemic awareness in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia.NPJ science of learning · 2024Article
- Gray and White Matter Metrics Demonstrate Distinct and Complementary Prediction of Differences in Cognitive Performance in Children: Findings from ABCD (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Intelligence-Dependent Differential Effects of Media Exposure on Executive Function Changes in Children: A Population-Based Cohort Study With a Longitudinal Design.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Article
- Grey and white matter metrics demonstrate distinct and complementary prediction of differences in cognitive performance in children: Findings from ABCD (N= 11 876).bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Digital media defines modern childhood, but its cognitive effects are unclear and hotly debated. We believe that studies with genetic data could clarify causal claims and correct for the typically unaccounted role of genetic predispositions. Here, we estimated the impact of different types of screen time (watching, socializing, or gaming) on children's intelligence while controlling for the confounding effects of genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic status. We analyzed 9855 children from the USA who were part of the ABCD dataset with measures of intelligence at baseline (ages 9-10) and after two years. At baseline, time watching (r = - 0.12) and socializing (r = - 0.10) were negatively correlated with intelligence, while gaming did not correlate. After two years, gaming positively impacted intelligence (standardized β = + 0.17), but socializing had no effect. This is consistent with cognitive benefits documented in experimental studies on video gaming. Unexpectedly, watching videos also benefited intelligence (standardized β = + 0.12), contrary to prior research on the effect of watching TV. Although, in a posthoc analysis, this was not significant if parental education (instead of SES) was controlled for. Broadly, our results are in line with research on the malleability of cognitive abilities from environmental factors, such as cognitive training and the Flynn effect.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.