Sitting and focusing on one task at a time for greater lengths of time, even if on a digital device, is better for mental health than trying to do too many things simultaneously. Not a surprise, but in this day and age of constant notifications that pop up enticing you to flip between apps, it's a huge problem.
Media multitasking, rather than total amount of time spent on digital media, reflected children's stress levels, attention spans, and sleep, according to a small study of 8- to 12-year-olds.
Higher levels of media multitasking were associated with worse sleep and behavior, increased levels of psychological distress, and lower attention ratings by both teachers and parents of 118 students at a Swiss school, reported Pedro Cardoso-Leite, PhD, of the University of Luxembourg, and colleagues.
Video gaming, on the other hand, reduced levels of stress and improved attention control, the study group wrote in
PLOS One.
"We argue, as have many before us, that total time on media is not a sufficient metric," the researchers said. "Total time on media correlates strongly with measures of more specific forms of media use, each of which having their unique, positive or negative impact."
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