Students who open a social media account earlier in adolescence appear to perform worse in later standardised tests, according to a study in Nature Human Behaviour based on over five thousand Italian students.

Teens who said they checked their phones more often were more likely to have opened an account earlier, and were less likely to have had parental supervision of their social media use.

The All Ireland Science Media Centre asked experts to comment.

Dr Dean McDonnell, Lecturer of Psychology, South East Technological University, comments: 

“This is one of those studies that when you stumble upon it, you adjust your seat. It uses longitudinal standardised data and matching and difference-in-differences models that are far stronger than our usual cross-sectional methodologies. Although the design makes it difficult to eliminate all unmeasured differences between groups, it highlights that earlier social media adoption is followed by lower scores in two of the three subjects: Italian and mathematics.  

“A broader question is what these tests capture. I am reminded of research on the Flynn effect, showing how changing environments can alter the ways people interpret and categorise information. An earlier generation might connect two animals behaviourally (one chases the other), whereas a contemporary response may classify both abstractly (as mammals). Both answers are correct and demonstrate understanding, but assessments will generally reward particular forms of reasoning.

“The same caution applies here. Findings that indicate lower standardised scores are eye-catching and meaningful, but should not automatically be translated into a general loss of intelligence or learning. It can be possible for contemporary digital environments to cultivate some competencies while displacing practice in others. For example, the absence of an effect for English is especially resonant here, as exposure to English-language material online may have offset some disadvantages of pervasive use.

“For me, I would think that this suggests how outcomes may depend on the interaction between platform design, content, attention, and displaced activities, rather than simply whether a child has a social media account.”

Declaration of interest: “I have no financial or commercial conflicts of interest relevant to this report. I am a developmental psychologist, member of the Psychological Society of Ireland and lecturer at South East Technological University. The views expressed are my own.” 

Dr Jason Power, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Limerick, comments: 

“Researching the impact of specific technologies on people can be very challenging. There are so many factors that impact each of us every day that it can be exceedingly difficult to isolate the signal from the noise. The authors of this study have done an admirable job of navigating the many challenges and have provided a valuable insight into the impact of social media use on specific learning outcomes.

“The study found that children who created social media accounts in 6th or 7th grade (around ages 11–12) experienced significant drops in math and language scores compared to peers who waited until 9th grade (age 14). By 10th grade, early adopters lost the equivalent of six months of math learning, faced higher risks of repeating a grade, and reported lower academic confidence. Distraction during homework, bedtime, and school hours was the primary driver of this decline.”

“However, important limitations must be considered. Account creation dates relied on student memory years after the event. Additionally, the study excluded high school dropouts and vocational students, groups with higher digital media use and lower test scores, meaning the findings likely understate overall harm. Finally, results reflect students in Northern Italy during a specific period dominated by smartphone video apps, so findings may vary across different cultures or technologies.”

Declaration of interest: “no conflicts of interest”

Professor Eoin Whelan, Professor in Business Analytics and Society, University of Galway, comments: 

“While the press release for this paper suggests that earlier social media use may be harmful, that should be interpreted with an element of caution.  

“Firstly, the study does find that earlier access to social media is associated with lower test scores, so what is important to understand is why this negative association exists.  The researchers did investigate this and found that the child’s’ inability to control their use of their smartphone, and lack of parental involvement in managing online activity, were the main reasons why this pattern exists.  This finding would support calls for particular features of social media platforms, such as auto-play and infinite scroll, to be modified and subject to appropriate safeguards.

“Second, the study found no link between exposure to social media and well-being for the average child. But of course there is no such thing as an average child. What this means in reality is that some benefit from social media, for others it is largely benign, but some children do have negative experiences online.

“So, we should focus on who, why, and when children experience detrimental consequences when using digital technology.”

Declaration of interest: “no declarations of interest”

* ‘Longitudinal effect of early social media use on standardized learning outcomes during school career’ in Nature Human Behaviour is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02522-4