Phone notifications cause ‘ADHD-like symptoms’

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.

“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.