Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41908966›Full record

ArticleLancet regional health. Americas2026

Associations of adolescent social media use trajectories with spatial and verbal memory: a prospective cohort study.

Jason M Nagata, Jennifer H Wong, Kristen E Kim, Sahana Nayak, Elizabeth J Li, Racquel A Richardson, Andreas M Rauschecker, Leo Sugrue, Kyle T Ganson, Timothy Piatkowski and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Lancet regional health. Americas, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Jason M NagataDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Jennifer H WongDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Kristen E KimDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Sahana NayakDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Elizabeth J LiDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Racquel A RichardsonDivision of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Andreas M RauscheckerDepartment of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Leo SugrueDepartment of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Kyle T GansonFactor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V4, Canada.
Timothy PiatkowskiSchool of Applied Psychology and Griffith Centre for Mental Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Jinbo HeDepartment of Biosciences and Bioinformatics, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 215123, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Alexander TestaDepartment of Management, Policy and Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.

Funding

Informing national guidelines on adolescent and young adult physical activity and sedentary behavior to prevent cardiovascular diseaseK08HL159350 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI NAGATA, JASON M · 2021 to 2025
$869k
NHLBI NIH HHS K08 HL159350
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Evidence on screen time and cognition is mixed, with few longitudinal studies on social media patterns and memory. This study aimed to examine how social media trajectories relate to cognitive performance in early adolescence. Methods: We analyzed a prospective cohort (N = 7528, 51.1% male, mean age: 10 years (8-13 years), 41.8% non-White) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (baseline (2016-2018) to Year 2 (2018-2020)). Group-based trajectory modeling estimated patterns of daily social media use from baseline-Year 2. Three social media time trajectories: (1) no or very low use, (2) low but increasing use, and (3) high and increasing use were identified. Cognitive functioning was measured using the Little Man Task (LMT) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Linear regression models estimated the association between social media time trajectories and cognitive functioning at Year 2, adjusting for baseline age, sex, race, ethnicity, household income, parent education, attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms, depressive symptoms, respective baseline cognitive measures, non-social media screen use, and study site. Findings: Compared to no or very low social media use, low increasing social media use was associated with lower performance on the RAVLT Initial Trials (B: -1.38; 95% CI: -1.82, -0.94), RAVLT Retroactive Interference Trial (B: -0.38; 95% CI: -0.52, -0.25), and RAVLT Long Delay Trial (B: -0.41; 95% CI: -0.55, -0.26). Compared to no or very low social media use, high increasing social media use was associated with lower accuracy on the LMT (B: -0.03; 95% CI: -0.05, -0.01), and lower performance on the RAVLT Initial Trials (B: -1.90; 95% CI: -2.76, -1.04), RAVLT Retroactive Interference Trial (B: -0.61; 95% CI: -0.89, -0.32), and RAVLT Long Delay Trial (B: -0.55; 95% CI: -0.84, -0.27). Interpretation: Increases in social media time were prospectively associated with lower cognitive performance two years later. Monitoring digital use, implementing a Family Media Use Plan, and balancing screen time with cognitively enriching activities may help mitigate these effects. Future studies should examine the effects of various contemporary media on cognitive functioning. Funding: The research was supported by the Doris Duke Foundation (2022056).

Indexed as

Adolescent healthCognitionDigital mediaScreen timeSocial mediaYouth

Identifiers

PMID41908966
PMCPMC13018955

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.