"Phone in the Room, Mind on the Roam": Investigating the Impact of Mobile Phone Presence on Distraction.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized experimental trial
PubMed 40422303 · doi:10.3390/ejihpe15050074
What was done
Young adults aged 18 to 25 were randomly assigned to perform the Attention Network Test (ANT) either with their mobile phone present (experimental group) or with no phone present (control group). Smartphone nomophobia and addiction were measured using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV).
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values. It states that the presence of a mobile phone did not significantly distract participants or impair attentional performance. No significant relationship emerged between self-reported distraction or nomophobia and attentional performance, though smartphone addiction showed a weak effect on errors in the phone-present condition. Women reported significantly higher nomophobia levels than men.
Why it matters
These findings challenge the common assumption that the mere passive presence of a smartphone reliably drains cognitive capacity or impairs attention.
Limits
The abstract does not provide the sample size, effect sizes, or exact statistical metrics. The study was restricted to young adults (18–25 years) and utilized a laboratory computer task (ANT) that may not fully capture sustained real-world attentional demands.