Short videos deliver constant stimulation in seconds. Studies link heavier use to weaker attention, memory and mental health. Spain's teenagers are already showing the cost.
In September 2025, a review of 71 studies examined short-video use among 98,299 people. Its findings linked heavier use with weaker attention, poorer cognitive performance, worse mental health and higher stress. Spain's teenagers face a sharp version of the problem. They spend about 77 minutes a day on social media.
Each idle moment can become another chance to swipe. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube send users a steady stream of short clips chosen around their interests. Music, movement, images and quick cuts arrive within seconds. The next video is always one gesture away.
В систематическом обзоре в Psychological Bulletin наиболее заметные связи с потреблением коротких видео пришлись на контроль импульсов и внимание — два навыка, непосредственно связанные со способностью продолжать задачу, несмотря на отвлекающие стимулы.
That design changes more than viewing time. It trains the brain to handle separate bursts of information without much sustained effort. Longer tasks can then feel unusually hard.
The September 2025 review appeared in Psychological Bulletin. Greater short-video use was associated with poorer attention, weaker cognitive performance, worse mental health and higher stress. The review found an association. It did not prove that short videos alone cause those outcomes.
A second review appeared in January 2026. It focused on adolescents and young adults. Self-control was one of the cognitive functions most closely linked to short-video addiction. The review also reported links with memory, decision-making, negative cognitive bias, loss aversion and cognitive engagement.
Материалы по экранному времени в Испании оценивают, что подростки 14–18 лет проводят в интернете и за экранами примерно 4,8–5 часов в день. Показатель использования социальных сетей у части этой возрастной группы составляет около 74–77 минут в день, что усиливает значение проблемы именно для подростков.
The heaviest users can also be the most vulnerable. People with weaker attentional control, a greater tendency toward boredom, ADHD or low mood are described as more likely to consume social-media content and more affected by it. Newer reviews report links with weaker attention, working memory and inhibition among adults as well as adolescents.
Gloria Mark, a psychologist and professor of Informatics at the University of California in Irvine, known as UCI, measured a steep change in screen attention. In 2004, people could stay with screen content for about two and a half minutes. In more recent measurements, the average was about 47 seconds. Those figures come from particular research samples. They are not an official universal limit of human attention.
The mobile phone now follows people through much of the day. Data from the international campaign Febrero sin móvil puts average global checking at approximately 221 times a day. The reported consequences include memory loss, reduced concentration, a lower tolerance for boredom and difficulty sustaining attention.
Spain's latest PISA report offers a concrete warning. Reading comprehension among Spanish students fell by 23 points. The source links that decline to the difficulty many adolescents have maintaining concentration through a long text that demands time and effort. Young people spend an average of 77 minutes a day on social platforms. That is almost 15 minutes above the international average and 15% more than in 2025.
Concern about new media has been around for decades. Comics, video games, rap, television and the early internet were all accused of harming young people or encouraging dangerous behavior. Panic alone does not prove causation.
The current evidence still points to a consistent association between intensive short-video use, attention problems, stress and weaker cognitive control. Independent publications in 2026 have continued to report the same pattern. The signal is not limited to a single study.
The clearest effect may appear after the screen goes dark. A 2024 study published by the American Psychological Association followed 1,200 people across seven experiments. Participants who used infinite scrolling felt more bored than those told to watch one 10-minute video. They also reported less satisfaction with social-media use in the scrolling condition.
Boredom can create the pause needed to leave an unhelpful situation or make a change. Constant digital stimulation takes away that pause. Waiting in a supermarket queue, riding an elevator or expecting a friend can become a trigger for automatic phone use.
The problem is not that every short video causes cognitive decline. An endless supply of rapid, disconnected stimuli can weaken the habits needed for attention, memory, self-control and sustained reading. The routine itself may be reshaping what the brain expects from each moment. That risk is easy to miss.
