Kids who use social media score lower on reading and memory tests, a study shows

Preteens using increasing amounts of social media perform poorer in reading, vocabulary and memory tests in early adolescence compared with those who use no or little social media.

That's according to a new study that suggests a link between social media use and poorer cognition in teens. The findings are published in JAMA .

"This is a really exciting study," says psychologist Mitch Prinstein at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who wasn't involved in the new research.

"It confirms a lot of what we have been hearing about from schools all across the country, which is that kids are just having a really hard time focusing on being able to learn as well as they used to, because of the ways in which social media has changed their ability to process information, perhaps.