Students who begin using social media at an earlier age tend to perform worse in certain school subjects than their peers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.
The researchers surveyed the social media habits of more than 5,000 Italian students and compared the findings with their performance in mathematics, Italian and English.
Among students aged 13 and 14, those who opened their first social media accounts between the ages of 11 and 12 scored significantly lower in mathematics and Italian than those who waited until at least 14 years of age.
The study found no comparable effect in English, which researchers suggested may be because much of the content viewed on social media is already in English.
Marco Gui, associate professor of sociology and one of the study’s authors, said the findings indicate that social media use may be particularly harmful during the pre-adolescent years, although he noted that the relationship is complex.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.