Introduction: Smartphones are often helpful in our everyday lives. Yet, they also tend to interrupt us during other activities. It has been argued that such distractions contribute to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-like symptoms. However, since there are mostly correlational studies, the causal nature of this relationship is unclear. Our aim was to test whether reducing smartphone-related distractions might have a beneficial effect on inattention and hyperactive symptoms. Methods: We conducted a 1-week field experiment with 37 healthy undergraduates and quasi-randomly assigned them to an intervention or control group (CG). The intervention group was given theory-based specific instructions that aimed at reducing smartphone-related distractions, whereas the CG received no intervention. The outcomes of interest were inattention level, hyperactive symptoms, and working memory accuracy. Results: Compared to those in the control condition, participants who limited their smartphone use showed considerable reductions in hyperactive symptoms after 1 week – particularly those who displayed high problematic smartphone use. However, there were no group differences regarding inattention symptoms and working memory accuracy. Discussion: The results give a first hint that strategically reducing smartphone-related distractions via specific but simple use modifications can mitigate hyperactive symptoms. Especially people with problematic smartphone use seem to profit from such an intervention. Remaining questions and directions are discussed.

1.
Wiederhold
BK
.
Social media use during social distancing
.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw
.
2020
;
23
(
5
):
275
6
. .
2.
Montag
C
,
Błaszkiewicz
K
,
Sariyska
R
,
Lachmann
B
,
Andone
I
,
Trendafilov
B
,
Smartphone usage in the 21st century: who is active on WhatsApp?
BMC Res Notes
.
2015
;
8
:
331
.
3.
Pielot
M
,
Church
K
,
de Oliveira
R
.
An in-situ study of mobile phone notifications
. In:
Quigley
A
,
Diamond
S
,
Irani
P
,
Subramanian
S
, editors.
An in-situ study of mobile phone notifications
.
New York, NY, USA
:
ACM Press
;
2014
. p.
233
42
.
4.
Adamczyk
PD
,
Bailey
BP
.
If not now, when? The effects of interruption at different moments within task execution
. In:
Adamczyk
PD
,
Bailey
BP
, editors.
If not now, when? The effects of interruption at different moments within task execution
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2004
. p.
271
8
.
5.
Chang
YJ
,
Tang
JC
.
Investigating mobile users’ ringer mode usage and attentiveness and responsiveness to communication
. In:
Boring
S
,
Rukzio
E
,
Gellersen
H
,
Hinckley
K
, editors.
Investigating mobile users’ ringer mode usage and attentiveness and responsiveness to communication
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2015
. p.
6
15
.
6.
Battestini
A
,
Setlur
V
,
Sohn
T
.
A large scale study of text-messaging use
. In:
de Sá
M
,
Carriço
L
,
Correia
N
, editors.
A large scale study of text-messaging use
.
New York, NY, USA
:
ACM Press
;
2010
. p.
229
38
.
7.
Lee
U
,
Song
J
,
Lee
J
,
Ko
M
,
Lee
C
,
Kim
Y
,
Hooked on smartphones: an exploratory study on smartphone overuse among college students
. In:
Jones
M
,
Palanque
P
,
Schmidt
A
,
Grossman
T
, editors.
Hooked on smartphones: an exploratory study on smartphone overuse among college students
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2014
. p.
2327
36
.
8.
Oulasvirta
A
,
Rattenbury
T
,
Ma
L
,
Raita
E
.
Habits make smartphone use more pervasive
.
Pers Ubiquit Comput
.
2012
;
16
(
1
):
105
14
.
9.
Markowetz
A
.
Digitaler burnout: warum unsere permanente smartphone-nutzung gefährlich ist
.
München, Germany
:
Droemer Knaur Verlag
;
2015
.
10.
Leiva
L
,
Böhmer
M
,
Gehring
S
,
Krüger
A
.
Back to the app: the costs of mobile application interruptions
. In:
Churchill
E
, editor.
Back to the app: the costs of mobile application interruptions
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2012
. p.
291
4
.
11.
Wilmer
HH
,
Sherman
LE
,
Chein
JM
.
Smartphones and cognition: a review of research exploring the links between mobile technology habits and cognitive functioning
.
Front Psychol
.
2017
;
8
:
605
. .
12.
Lang
A
.
The limited capacity model of mediated message processing
.
J Commun
.
2000
;
50
(
1
):
46
70
. .
13.
David
P
,
Kim
JH
,
Brickman
JS
,
Ran
W
,
Curtis
CM
.
Mobile phone distraction while studying
.
New Media Soc
.
2015
;
17
(
10
):
1661
79
. .
14.
Agrawal
P
,
Sahana
HS
,
De’
R
.
Digital distraction
. In:
Baguma
R
,
De’
R
,
Janowski
T
, editors.
Digital distraction
.
New York, NY, USA
:
ACM Press
;
2017
. p.
191
4
.
15.
Brooks
S
,
Longstreet
P
,
Longstreet
P
,
Califf
C
.
Social media induced technostress and its impact on internet addiction: a distraction-conflict theory perspective
.
THCI
.
2017
;
9
(
2
):
99
122
. .
16.
Czerwinski
M
,
Cutrell
E
,
Horvitz
E
.
Instant messaging: effects of relevance and timing
. In:
Czerwinski
M
,
Cutrell
E
,
Horvitz
E
, editors.
Instant messaging: effects of relevance and timing
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2000
. p.
71
6
.
17.
Altmann
EM
,
Trafton
JG
,
Hambrick
DZ
.
Momentary interruptions can derail the train of thought
.
J Exp Psychol Gen
.
2014
;
143
(
1
):
215
26
. .
18.
Ophir
E
,
Nass
C
,
Wagner
AD
.
Cognitive control in media multitaskers
.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
.
2009
;
106
(
37
):
15583
7
. .
19.
Kushlev
K
,
Proulx
J
,
Dunn
EW
.
“Silence your phones”: smartphone notifications increase inattention and hyperactivity symptoms
. In:
Kaye
J
,
Druin
A
,
Lampe
C
,
Morris
D
,
Hourcade
JP
, editors.
“Silence your phones”: smartphone notifications increase inattention and hyperactivity symptoms
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2016
. p.
1011
20
.
20.
Uncapher
MR
,
K Thieu
M
,
Wagner
AD
.
Media multitasking and memory: differences in working memory and long-term memory
.
Psychon Bull Rev
.
2016
;
23
(
2
):
483
90
. .
21.
Cain
MS
,
Mitroff
SR
.
Distractor filtering in media multitaskers
.
Perception
.
2011
;
40
(
10
):
1183
92
. .
22.
Loh
KK
,
Kanai
R
.
Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex
.
PLoS One
.
2014
;
9
(
9
):
e106698
. .
23.
Moisala
M
,
Salmela
V
,
Hietajärvi
L
,
Salo
E
,
Carlson
S
,
Salonen
O
,
Media multitasking is associated with distractibility and increased prefrontal activity in adolescents and young adults
.
Neuroimage
.
2016
;
134
:
113
21
.
24.
van der Schuur
WA
,
Baumgartner
SE
,
Sumter
SR
,
Valkenburg
PM
.
The consequences of media multitasking for youth: a review
.
Comput Hum Behav
.
2015
;
53
:
204
15
. .
25.
Brooks
S
.
Does personal social media usage affect efficiency and well-being?
Comput Hum Behav
.
2015
;
46
:
26
37
. .
26.
Misra
S
,
Stokols
D
.
Psychological and health outcomes of perceived information overload
.
Environ Behav
.
2012
;
44
(
6
):
737
59
. .
27.
Lee
H
,
Ahn
H
,
Nguyen
TG
,
Choi
SW
,
Kim
DJ
.
Comparing the self-report and measured smartphone usage of college students: a pilot study
.
Psychiatry Investig
.
2017
;
14
(
2
):
198
204
. .
28.
Elhai
JD
,
Dvorak
RD
,
Levine
JC
,
Hall
BJ
.
Problematic smartphone use: a conceptual overview and systematic review of relations with anxiety and depression psychopathology
.
J Affect Disord
.
2017
;
207
:
251
9
. .
29.
Marty-Dugas
J
,
Ralph
BCW
,
Oakman
JM
,
Smilek
D
.
The relation between smartphone use and everyday inattention
.
Psychol Conscious
.
2018
;
5
(
1
):
46
62
. .
30.
Fitz
N
,
Kushlev
K
,
Jagannathan
R
,
Lewis
T
,
Paliwal
D
,
Ariely
D
.
Batching smartphone notifications can improve well-being
.
Comput Hum Behav
.
2019
;
101
:
84
94
. .
31.
Mark
G
,
Voida
S
,
Cardello
A
.
“A pace not dictated by electrons”: an empirical study of work without email
. In:
Konstan
JA
,
Chi
EH
,
Höök
K
, editors.
“A pace not dictated by electrons": an empirical study of work without email
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2012
. p.
555
64
.
32.
Pielot
M
,
Rello
L
.
Productive, anxious, lonely: 24 hours without push notifications
. In:
Jones
M
,
Tscheligi
M
,
Rogers
Y
,
Murray-Smith
R
, editors.
Productive, anxious, lonely: 24 hours without push notifications
.
New York, NY, USA
:
ACM Press
;
2017
. p.
1
11
.
33.
Vanman
EJ
,
Baker
R
,
Tobin
SJ
.
The burden of online friends: the effects of giving up Facebook on stress and well-being
.
J Soc Psychol
.
2018
;
158
(
4
):
496
507
. .
34.
Cheever
NA
,
Rosen
LD
,
Carrier
LM
,
Chavez
A
.
Out of sight is not out of mind: the impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users
.
Comput Hum Behav
.
2014
;
37
:
290
7
. .
35.
Clayton
RB
,
Leshner
G
,
Almond
A
.
The extended iSelf: the impact of iPhone separation on cognition, emotion, and physiology
.
J Comput Mediat Comm
.
2015
;
20
(
2
):
119
35
. .
36.
Iqbal
ST
,
Horvitz
E
.
Notifications and awareness: a field study of alert usage and preferences
. In:
Inkpen
K
, editor.
Notifications and awareness: a field study of alert usage and preferences
.
New York, NY
:
ACM Press
;
2010
. p.
27
30
.
37.
Vahedi
Z
,
Saiphoo
A
.
The association between smartphone use, stress, and anxiety: a meta-analytic review
.
Stress Health
.
2018
;
34
(
3
):
347
58
. .
38.
Robinson
TE
,
Berridge
KC
.
The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction
.
Brain Res Brain Res Rev
.
1993
;
18
(
3
):
247
91
. .
39.
Ellgring
H
,
Alpers
GW
.
Operante verfahren der psychotherapie: psychologische interventionen auf grundlage des operanten konditionierens
. In:
Hautzinger
M
,
Pauli
P
, editors.
Enzyklopädie der psychologie: themenbereich B, methodologie und methoden: ser. 3, psychologische interventionsmethoden
. 2nd edn.
Göttingen, Germany
:
Hogrefe Verlag
;
2009
. p.
271
316
.
40.
Margraf
J
,
Wilhelm
E
.
Habit-reversal-training
. In:
Margraf
J
,
Schneider
S
, editors.
Lehrbuch der verhaltenstherapie, band 1
. 3rd edn.
Heidelberg, Germany
:
Springer
;
2018
. p.
579
96
. .
41.
Freihaut
P
.
Privates und berufliches digitales nutzungsverhalten und subjektives wohlbefinden: überprüfung von direkten effekten, moderator- und mediatoreffekten in strukturgleichungsmodellen
. Master thesis,
Fachbereich 05 – Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften: Institut für Psychologie, Goethe Universität Frankfurt
;
2017
.
42.
Adler
LA
,
Kessler
RC
,
Spencer
T
.
Adult ADHD self-report scale-v1. 1 (ASRS-v1. 1) symptom checklist
.
New York, NY
:
World Health Organization
;
2003
.
43.
Kessler
RC
,
Adler
L
,
Ames
M
,
Demler
O
,
Faraone
S
,
Hiripi
E
,
The World Health Organization adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS): a short screening scale for use in the general population
.
Psychol Med
.
2005
;
35
(
2
):
245
56
.
44.
Foerster
M
,
Roser
K
,
Schoeni
A
,
Röösli
M
.
Problematic mobile phone use in adolescents: derivation of a short scale MPPUS-10
.
Int J Public Health
.
2015
;
60
(
2
):
277
86
. .
45.
Kirchner
WK
.
Age differences in short-term retention of rapidly changing information
.
J Exp Psychol
.
1958
;
55
(
4
):
352
8
. .
46.
Mühlbauer
E
,
Bauer
M
,
Ebner-Priemer
U
,
Ritter
P
,
Hill
H
,
Beier
F
,
Effectiveness of smartphone-based ambulatory assessment (SBAA-BD) including a predicting system for upcoming episodes in the long-term treatment of patients with bipolar disorders: study protocol for a randomized controlled single-blind trial
.
BMC Psychiatry
.
2018
;
18
(
1
):
349
.
47.
Harari
GM
,
Lane
ND
,
Wang
R
,
Crosier
BS
,
Campbell
AT
,
Gosling
SD
.
Using smartphones to collect behavioral data in psychological science: opportunities, practical considerations, and challenges
.
Perspect Psychol Sci
.
2016
;
11
(
6
):
838
54
. .
48.
Oberauer
K
.
Working memory and attention: a conceptual analysis and review
.
J Cogn
.
2019
;
2
(
1
):
36
. .
49.
Prochaska
JO
,
Velicer
WF
.
The transtheoretical model of health behavior change
.
Am J Health Promot
.
1997
;
12
(
1
):
38
48
. .
50.
Busch
PA
,
McCarthy
S
.
Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: a systematic literature review of an emerging research area
.
Comput Hum Behav
.
2021
;
114
:
106414
. .
51.
Panova
T
,
Carbonell
X
,
Chamarro
A
,
Puerta-Cortés
DX
.
Specific smartphone uses and how they relate to anxiety and depression in university students: a cross-cultural perspective
.
Behav Inf Technol
.
2019
;
39
(
9
):
1
13
.
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.