The short- and long-term effects of digital media use on attention

Due to the ubiquitous nature of digital media in youths’ lives, concerns have been raised that digital media might negatively affect attention. For children and adolescents, these concerns revolve around two questions. First, what are the momentary, short-term effects of digital media on attention and processing (e.g., while studying or doing homework)? Second, what are the sustained, long-term effects of frequent media distractions and media multitasking on youths’ ability to focus and sustain attention? This chapter provides an overview of the current state of the literature on these two issues and highlights the most important research gaps and directions for future research. In sum, current studies point toward attentional performance decrements when using digital media. These decrements might be particularly strong when one perceives digital media to be more important than the primary task, when the digital distraction draws on the same sensory modalities than the primary task, and when one is forcefully interrupted by media (i.e., incoming messages). Whether these momentary distractions, or continuous media multitasking more generally, have sustained negative effects on attentional abilities remains largely unknown.