A study by psychologists at the University of Virginia wants to prove if the use of smartphones linked to ADHD symptoms.
They took 221 participants, students at the University of Columbia at their millennial age. The participants had to undergo two weeks identification so researchers could find if the smartphone interruptions brought out any disruption in their concentration. Kustadin Kushlev, lead author, explained how he used a checklist made by the American Psychiatric Associations' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to identify each participant with ADHD symptoms.
Participants were required to answer 18 questions identifying how often they make mistakes such as forgetting to do something they're supposed to do; paying bills, focusing on a course, listening to others and more. The study also included hyperactivity identification - feeling restless, fidgeting, interrupting others and being talkative at an excessive level.
The results showed that more frequent phone interruptions made people more hyperactive but less attentive. According to Kushlev, ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that might take years to identify the correlation between smartphone and ADHD. Furthermore, while the study does not show if reducing smartphone use can also help treating ADHD; the result suggests an implication.
So far, people are bombarded with studies on smartphones linked to brain cancer, which turns out it has no correlation, according to an article in University Herald. However, this study that found a direct relation of digital stimulation with attention deficiency suggests that silencing phones could help our brain to think better.
Smartphone is best-selling gadget in the world and the transformative power makes humans the 'phono sapiens' according to the Economist. These users often ignore a friend talking to them or a speaker in a meeting, and worse, harming productivity and wellness.
In January 2007, Steve Jobs launched original iPhone and said, "This will change everything." Well, it does change everything including our health.
