SynthesisBMC pediatrics2025
Impact of social media on cognitive development of children and young adults: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Emerging Adults' Experiences of Digital Measurement-Based Care in Routine Mental Health Care: Qualitative Study and Conceptual Synthesis.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Article
- An effort recalibration framework for digital media use and cognition.Nature human behaviour · 2026Review
- Executive Functioning as a Mediator Between Digital Media Exposure and Communication Outcomes in Children and Adolescents.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Support system networks: how support systems shape problematic social media use, mental health, and substance use in Czech adolescents.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- Unfiltered Access, Unseen Harms: A Developmental and Public Health Critique of Digital Rights Discourse.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Screen Time, Digital Content Quality, and Parental Mediation as Predictors of Linguistic and Pragmatic Development: Implications for Pediatric and Preventive Health.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- When daily activities become digitally curated: a perspective through the model of human occupation.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocial media has become an integral part of daily life for children and young adults, raising concerns about its influence on cognitive development. This systematic review evaluates the impact of social media usage on cognitive development in children and young adults, focusing on key domains such as attention, memory, executive function, and language development.
methodsFollowing PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across seven databases and grey literature sources. Studies published between January 2009, and November 2024 were screened using predefined PICOTS criteria. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing randomized controlled trials, non-randomized trials, and observational designs.
resultsFindings revealed mixed effects of social media on cognitive development. Excessive use was associated with impaired attention, reduced working memory, and diminished executive functioning, particularly among adolescents with social media addiction. Conversely, certain platforms like Facebook and YouTube showed potential benefits in enhancing language skills and memory through educational engagement. The impact varied by platform type, usage intensity, and individual emotional states.
conclusionWhile social media presents opportunities for cognitive enrichment, its overuse may hinder critical developmental processes. The review underscores the need for longitudinal studies and randomized trials to better understand causal relationships and inform guidelines for healthy digital engagement among youth.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.