Introduction:

intensive social media use has been associated with attentional and sleep alterations in young adults; however, evidence based on objective in-person assessments in Latin America remains limited.

Objective:

to analyze the relationship between daily social media use time and attentional performance in medical students using objective cognitive tests.

Methodology:

an observational, cross-sectional correlational study was conducted among 73 students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of Asunción. Participants completed a sociodemographic and digital habits questionnaire and underwent three cognitive tests: theMackworth Vigilance Task (sustained attention), the Treisman and Gelade Visual Search Task (selective attention), and the Eriksen Flanker Task (inhibitory control). Descriptive and non-parametric inferential analyses were performed.

Results:

mean daily social media use was 3.77 ± 1.02 h and nocturnal sleep duration was 5.33 ± 0.64 h. Normal sustained attention was found in 90.4% of participants, whereas 76.7% exhibited impaired selective attention. No correlation was observed between social media use time and Mackworth performance (r = 0.154; p = 0.194). Age and sleep duration were negatively associated with attentional performance.

Conclusions:

social media use time was not directly associated with sustained attention, suggesting indirect effects mediated by sleep reduction and cognitive fatigue.

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