Hyperactivity and a lack of attention span are often traits ascribed to millennials unable to put down their phones. Now a study from the University of Virginia claims these stereotypes may not be totally inaccurate, with smartphone notifications apparently causing "ADHD-like symptoms even among the general population".
The research, which has been presented at the Human-Computer Interaction conference in California, examined how 221 college students used their smartphones over a two-week period.
They found that when students had notifications turned on – by having their phone on ring or vibrate, for example – they reported "more symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity" than when their phones were on silent. "We found the first experimental evidence that smartphone interruptions can cause greater inattention and hyperactivity – symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – even in people drawn from a nonclinical population," said Kostadin Kushlev, lead author of the study.
Students who had their phones turned on rather than on silent experienced many similar symptoms to ADHD, even when they hadn't been diagnosed with the disorder. These symptoms include "distraction, difficulty focusing, having trouble sitting still and restlessness." "Smartphones may contribute to these symptoms by serving as a quick and easy source of distraction," said Kushlev.
Kushlev stressed that ADHD was not simply a collection of symptoms, but a neurodevelopmental disorder, which also has a biological etiology. "Our findings suggest neither that smartphones can cause ADHD nor that reducing smartphone notifications can treat ADHD," he said. "The findings simply suggest that our constant digital stimulation may be contributing to an increasingly problematic deficit of attention in modern society."
Other studies have had similar results. A 2014 study by the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China found a strong association between mobile phone use and inattention.
In 2015 a study by UCL researchers found that smartphone use can cause "inattention deafness", where users become "temporarily deaf" because they are concentrating on their smartphones instead of what's going on around them.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
