Associations between social media use and cognitive abilities: Results from a large-scale study of adolescents

Stefan Stieger*, Sabine Wunderl

*Korrespondierende:r Autor:in für diese Arbeit

Publikation: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift (peer-reviewed)Artikel in Fachzeitschrift

11 Zitate (Scopus)

Abstract

In adolescence, smartphone use in general and social media use in particular has often been associated with negative effects, such as higher anxiety levels and body dissatisfaction. Other outcomes – such as fundamental cognitive abilities and skills (e.g., intelligence, information processing, spatial perception) – have rarely been the focus of research. Here, we analysed data from a large sample of adolescents (12–16 years; N > 12,000) who performed a series of psychometric tests ranging from intelligence, spatial perception, and information processing, to practical numeracy, and compared their test results with their social media usage (average active and passive time per day, problematic social media use). We additionally applied a random-forest model approach, useful for designs with many predictors and expected small effect sizes. Almost all associations did not outperform known age- and sex-differences on social media use; that is, effect sizes were small-to-tiny and had low importance in the random-forest analyses compared to dominant demographic effects. Negative effects of social media use may have been overstated in past research, at least in samples with adolescents.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer107358
FachzeitschriftComputers in Human Behavior
Jahrgang135
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Okt. 2022

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

  • Geisteswissenschaftliche Fächer (sonstige)
  • Human-computer interaction
  • Allgemeine Psychologie

Fingerprint

Untersuchen Sie die Forschungsthemen von „Associations between social media use and cognitive abilities: Results from a large-scale study of adolescents“. Zusammen bilden sie einen einzigartigen Fingerprint.

Dieses zitieren