Early social media use linked to lower test scores in Italy

Students who open their first social media account at age 11 or 12 experience a measurable and persistent academic disadvantage compared to peers who wait until at least 14, according to a major study of Italian adolescents published on August 3 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. The research indicates these earlier adopters lose the equivalent of roughly six months of schooling by their mid-teens, with the gap widening over time, particularly in mathematics.

Led by researchers at the University of Milano-Bicocca, the longitudinal study analyzed the academic records of 5,227 students in northern Italy, linking standardized test scores from grades 2, 5, 8, and 10 with survey data about their social media habits. The study focused on the timing of a student’s first personal social media account. It found that students who opened an account in sixth grade, when they were typically 11 or 12 years old, scored 0.27 standard deviations lower in mathematics and 0.22 lower in Italian by tenth grade than those who waited until ninth grade or later. The academic penalty was smaller but still meaningful for those who adopted social media in seventh grade and became statistically weak...