DOOMSCROLLING AMONG GENERATION ALPHA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT ON COGNITION AND EMOTION REGULATION
Keywords:
doomscrolling, Generation Alpha, cognitive development, emotional regulation, digital media, children's mental health.Abstract
Generation Alpha, born since the early 2010s, grew up in a hyper-connected digital environment and was exposed to a constant stream of negative information (such as news of crises, disasters, or conflicts) through social media and online platforms. This phenomenon of passive and compulsive consumption of negative content is known as "doomscrolling." This study aimed to analyze the impact of doomscrolling on cognitive functions (such as attention, working memory, and information processing) and emotional regulation abilities (including stress, anxiety, and negative affect management) in Generation Alpha children. The research method used a quantitative approach with a survey of 100 twelfth-grade students at SMA Unggulan Al-Azhar Medan, supplemented by psychometric measurements for cognition and emotion regulation, and analysis of screen time data and media consumption patterns. The results showed a significant unidirectional positive improvement between the intensity of doomscrolling and various cognitive and emotional development problems in children. The higher the intensity of doomscrolling, the more pronounced the decline in performance on tasks involving sustained attention and working memory. Furthermore, increased exposure to negative content is also associated with higher levels of anxiety and difficulties in children recovering emotionally after experiencing unpleasant emotional stimuli. Furthermore, children who doomscroll more frequently tend to exhibit catastrophizing thinking patterns, which is the tendency to overestimate situations as threatening or imagine the worst possible outcomes. These findings indicate that doomscrolling has the potential to disrupt children's rapid cognitive development and hinder the development of adaptive emotional regulation. Therefore, educational interventions from parents, educators, and policymakers are needed to improve critical digital literacy from an early age and encourage the development of more responsible media platform designs that protect children's psychological well-being.
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