People’s attention is known to be targeted by big tech companies for high profits despite ethical concerns (Bhargava & Velasquez, 2021). Addictive behaviours have been observed in problematic internet usage, although social media usage is not yet listed as a recognised diagnostic by the American Psychiatric Association (2022). As a result, very few studies focus on the impact of social media usage and the cognitive process of attention but instead assess the overall cognitive processes to acquire knowledge (Ioannidis et al., 2019).

This research proposal aims to focus on three crucial domains that have been under-studied. First, the measurement of sustained attention is essential for child development, which represents the capacity of an individual to focus on a single task for a limited amount of time (Esterman & Rothlein, 2019). Second, the impact of sustained attention on mental health, well-being and learning capabilities (Nguyen & Walters, 2024). Last, the field of attention lacks a unified framework to assess this specific cognitive function (Hommel et al., 2019; Nasiri et al., 2023). To conduct this research, the study will focus on adolescents from 12 to 15 years old using a between-subjects design. The control group is represented by participants identified as high risk of social media addiction usage, and the other group is considered as low-risk social media usage. The metronome response task (MRT) will be used to measure rhythmic response time (RRT) differences between these two groups representing a large sample (N=340), indicating the level of mind-wandering using t-test analysis (Seli et al., 2013).

Overall, this study represents a unique opportunity to combine the recent findings on problematic social media usage and sustained attention measurement to quantitatively document the relationship between possible attention impairment and social media usage.

In recent years, ethical concerns have arisen from governments, policymakers and scientists about the ever-involving attention economy that takes place on social media platforms and how they unjustifiably trigger addictive behaviours for their users, such as productivity decreases, mental health issues and relationship conflicts (Bhargava & Velasquez, 2021). Therefore, it is not yet recognised by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). As a result, very few studies investigate the relationship between attention and social media usage. As demonstrated by a meta-analysis, researchers prefer to measure problematic internet use (PIU) associated with overall cognitive performance with a focus on intelligence represented by IQ, which compares 40 studies using a case-control method to assess cognitive deficit (Ioannidis et al., 2019).

To understand the relationship between attention and positive or negative behaviour outcomes, the information processing model is helpful to comprehend fluctuations of attention over time, which are directly connected to how the brain acquires and stores knowledge (Simon, 1995). In this cognitive process, the sustained attention model is essential for child development, as it is the capacity to focus on a single task for a certain amount of time (Esterman & Rothlein, 2019).

As a result, the capacity to focus attention on a single mental task is crucial for child development because it impacts information processing, which can be used to predict the focus quality in a classroom (Hobbiss & Lavie, 2024). For example, as a recent meta-analysis explains, when the cognitive load is high for children and adolescents, the attention quality can be improved by external factors such as nature, which helps reduce stress levels and improves well-being and learning outcomes (Nguyen & Walters, 2024).

In contrast, a recent meta-analysis demonstrated that external stimuli such as social media can also impact mental health states, such as happiness and well-being (Marciano et al., 2024). In addition, digital media have also impacted boredom in this recent meta-analysis where researchers observed overstimulation versus under-stimulation on the attentional process (Camerini et al., 2023). Furthermore, Attention is an essential cognitive process in human development. Impairment in the attention process can decrease mood levels and participate in increasing anxiety, particularly fragile during adolescence (Roberts et al., 2023). However, the role that social media has over sustained attention still needs to be determined.

A decade ago, scientists found a negative correlation between the self-report method of media multi-tasking Index (MMI) and sustained attention performance, using three different tests to assess sustained attention response time such as the sustained Attention to Response task (SART), the Metronome Response Task (MRT) and vigilance task (Ralph et al., 2015). Thus, a recent study might explain why attention assessment fails to assess a cognitive process that science has barely started to understand (Hommel et al., 2019; Nasiri et al., 2023). Therefore, Nasiri et al (2023) provided a review that did not include any sustained attention test and focused only on the general cognitive process of acquiring knowledge. For example, The review discussed more general tests that measure different mental processes, not limited to sustained attention such as vigilance or working memory (Nasiri et al., 2023).

On the one hand, the cognitive field of attention is criticised for lacking a unified framework to measure the different aspects of attention (Hommel et al., 2019; Nasiri et al., 2023). On the other hand, a group of scientists did find similarities with past research results while replicating the relationship between sustained attention and mind wandering using the Metronome Response Task (MRT) (Anderson et al., 2021). This is an opportunity to use a proven sustained attention measurement that has contributed to the mind-wandering study and use it to compare social media usage disorder for the first time.

The unique value proposition of this research proposal is to use the latest findings on sustained attention measurement to observe cognitive impairment in addictive social media usage behaviour. Until now, only a few studies associated mind-wandering behaviour such as smartphone or internet usage disorder with addictive behaviours (Müller et al., 2021; Wang, 2023). Effectively, the recent meta-analysis mentioned earlier in the introduction argues that international collaboration and standard measures must be applied to address problematic internet use in order to assess cognitive impairment (Ioannidis et al., 2019). Moreover, sustained attention is the main focus because of its importance in childhood development and well-being (Ortuño-Sierra et al., 2020).

In addition, to identify the problematic use of social media, participants identified as having social media addictive behaviour in the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) will be compared to normal usage of social media (Andreassen et al., 2017). As demonstrated in a recent meta-analysis, social anxiety has proven to be positively correlated to problematic use of social media identified as a risk factor (Wu et al., 2024).

The research will use a between-subject design with people scoring high in the BSMAS represented as having a high risk of social media addiction and people identified as having a low risk of social media addiction (Yue et al., 2022). The age group will be from 12 to 15 years old because of the instability of adolescents in maintaining focus during task performance compared to the older group (Hobbiss & Lavie, 2024).

Interested in contributing to this research, offering guidance, or have you spotted a mistake? Please reach out—I would be more than happy to exchange ideas with you.

Email Us

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5-TR (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm

Anderson, T., Petranker, R., Lin, H., & Farb, N. A. S. (2021). The metronome response task for measuring mind wandering: Replication attempt and extension of three studies by Seli et al. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83(1), 315–330. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-020-02131-x

Andreassen, C. S., Pallesen, S., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). The relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.006

Bhargava, V. R., & Velasquez, M. (2021). Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction. Business Ethics Quarterly, 31(3), 321–359. https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2020.32

Boer, M., Stevens, G., Finkenauer, C., & van den Eijnden, R. (2020). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Symptoms, Social Media Use Intensity, and Social Media Use Problems in Adolescents: Investigating Directionality. Child Development, 91(4), e853–e865. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13334

Camerini, A.-L., Morlino, S., & Marciano, L. (2023). Boredom and digital media use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 11, 100313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100313

Code of Ethics and Conduct (p. bpsrep.2021.inf94). (2021). British Psychological Society. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsrep.2021.inf94

Data Protection Act. (2018). [UK government services and information]. Legislation.Gov.Uk; King’s Printer of Acts of Parliament. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents

Esterman, M., & Rothlein, D. (2019). Models of sustained attention. Current Opinion in Psychology, 29, 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.03.005

Hobbiss, M. H., & Lavie, N. (2024). Sustained selective attention in adolescence: Cognitive development and predictors of distractibility at school. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 238, 105784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105784

Hommel, B., Chapman, C. S., Cisek, P., Neyedli, H. F., Song, J.-H., & Welsh, T. N. (2019). No one knows what attention is. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81(7), 2288–2303. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01846-w

Ioannidis, K., Hook, R., Goudriaan, A. E., Vlies, S., Fineberg, N. A., Grant, J. E., & Chamberlain, S. R. (2019). Cognitive deficits in problematic internet use: Meta-analysis of 40 studies. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 215(5), 639–646. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.3

Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction—A review of the psychological literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(9), 3528–3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528

Luo, T., Qin, L., Cheng, L., Wang, S., Zhu, Z., Xu, J., Chen, H., Liu, Q., Hu, M., Tong, J., Hao, W., Wei, B., & Liao, Y. (2021). Determination the cut-off point for the Bergen social media addiction (BSMAS): Diagnostic contribution of the six criteria of the components model of addiction for social media disorder. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10(2), 281–290. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00025

Marciano, L., Lin, J., Sato, T., Saboor, S., & Viswanath, K. (2024). Does social media use make us happy? A meta-analysis on social media and positive well-being outcomes. SSM - Mental Health, 6, 100331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2024.100331

Müller, M., Sindermann, C., Rozgonjuk, D., & Montag, C. (2021). Mind-Wandering Mediates the Associations Between Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, and Tendencies Towards Smartphone Use Disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661541

Nasiri, E., Khalilzad, M., Hakimzadeh, Z., Isari, A., Faryabi-Yousefabad, S., Sadigh-Eteghad, S., & Naseri, A. (2023). A comprehensive review of attention tests: Can we assess what we exactly do not understand? The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, 59(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41983-023-00628-4

Nguyen, L., & Walters, J. (2024). Benefits of nature exposure on cognitive functioning in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 96, 102336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102336

Ortuño-Sierra, J., Aritio-Solana, R., & Fonseca-Pedrero, E. (2020). New Evidences about Subjective Well-Being in Adolescence and Its Links with Neurocognitive Performance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061866

Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS Survival Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Data Analysis using IBM SPSS (7th ed.). Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education.

Ralph, B. C. W., Thomson, D. R., Seli, P., Carriere, J. S. A., & Smilek, D. (2015). Media multitasking and behavioral measures of sustained attention. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 77(2), 390–401. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-014-0771-7

Roberts, C., Sahakian, B. J., Chen, S., Sallie, S. N., Walker, C., White, S. R., Weber, J., Skandali, N., Robbins, T. W., & Murray, G. K. (2023). Impact and centrality of attention dysregulation on cognition, anxiety, and low mood in adolescents. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 9106. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34399-y

Seli, P., Cheyne, J. A., & Smilek, D. (2013). Wandering minds and wavering rhythms: Linking mind wandering and behavioral variability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030954

Simon, H. A. (1995). The information-processing theory of mind. American Psychologist, 50(7), 507–508. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.50.7.507

Wang, F. (2023). School Burnout and Mind Wandering among Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Internet Addiction and the Moderating Role of Resilience. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 184(5), 356–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2023.2209127

Wu, W., Huang, L., & Yang, F. (2024). Social anxiety and problematic social media use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 153, 107995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.107995

Yue, H., Zhang, X., Cheng, X., Liu, B., & Bao, H. (2022). Measurement Invariance of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale Across Genders. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.879259