School recess for most teenagers is still on and it is a perfect time to explore life on social media.
Is it healthy for them though? Scientists think that it is a bad idea to let teenagers spend most of their time online and a new study now shows that it has an impact on their brain.
The focus of the research, which was conducted in the United States by researchers from the University of North Carolina, was to check the impact frequent engagement of teens in online platforms has on their brain development.
About 200 students were enrolled in the study and the results, which were published in the scientific journal JAMA Paediatrics, show that such teens undergo brain changes which result in longing for social rewards and punishment from strangers online.
Teens who were part of the study frequently checked their Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram accounts. The study indicates that these changes occur in parts of the brain that affect one’s thought process, their motivation in life and one that affects their salience. Their non-habitual counterparts did not have any of such changes.
“These results suggest that habitual checking of social media in early adolescence may be longitudinally associated with changes in neural sensitivity to anticipation of social rewards and punishments, which could have implications for psychological adjustment,” said the study.
In a statement published by the University of Northern Carolina, lead co-author highlighted that most children start to use smartphones at an important time for their brain development.
“Our research demonstrates that checking behaviours on social media could have long-standing and important consequences for adolescents’ neural development, which is critical for parents and policy-makers to consider when understanding the benefits and potential harms associated with teen technology use,” said Mitch Prinstein
“While this increased sensitivity to social feedback may promote future compulsive social media use, it could also reflect a possible adaptive behaviour that will allow teens to navigate an increasingly digital world,” Maria Maza, a doctoral student in psychology and one of the study’s two lead authors, said in a statement published by the University of North Carolina
This, however, is not the first study to explore the association between social media and teenager’s health.
In another study published last year in the scientific journal Frontiers of Psychiatry, researchers found out that excessive use of smartphones to access social media platforms is linked to psychiatric, cognitive, emotional, medical and brain changes.
While the Frontiers study broadly focused on smartphone use and not specifically social media, it also narrowed down to addictive use of social media and the impact it has on children.
The researchers found out that social media use for teens who always have their smartphone gives them a sense of “fear of missing out” , thereby making them addicted to their phones.
“Excessive smartphone use is associated with difficulties in cognitive-emotion regulation, impulsivity, impaired cognitive function, addiction to social networking, shyness and low self-esteem,” said the study.
“Medical problems include sleep problems, reduced physical fitness, unhealthy eating habits, pain and migraines, reduced cognitive control and changes in the brain’s gray matter volume. Some children may get depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and alcohol use disorder.
Child psychology expert Loice Noo told the Nation yesterday that parents should take such studies seriously and approach it as a way of enforcing behaviour change for their teens.
She explained that, when teens feel like they get more rewards online, a parent can ensure that their teenager is engaged in other equally rewarding activities to minimise time spent on social media.
Parents can ensure that their children get physical activities that make them exhausted enough to get to sleep so as to engage in other activities the next day.
“It’s a little easier to see any change of behaviour in a teenager in case there is an impact that social media is making and then the parent or guardian can address that specific behaviour with an intention of roping in the use of social media. For instance, if a teenager is neglecting house chores or personal responsibility, then there’s need to take time and firmly let the teenager account for how they have spent the day,” she advises.
“Parents should use what I call the broadcasting approach, where you talk about the use, effect and self-discipline regarding social media every day and any day. They should bring it up in almost all the spaces where their teenagers are and use every opportunity to create a conversation around the subject matter,” she added.
The University of Carolina researchers recommend further investigation to examine long-term effects of social media in teens linking it to their brain and psychological changes.
