Digital Dependency and Attention Regulation among Emerging Adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63345/Keywords:
Digital Dependency, Attention Regulation, Emerging Adults, Problematic Smartphone Use, Digital Behaviour, Machine LearningAbstract
Digital platforms have become embedded in the academic, occupational, and social routines of emerging adults, raising questions about their relationship with sustained and self-regulated attention.
This study conceptualizes digital dependency as a multidimensional behavioural pattern involving compulsive checking, notification reactivity, task-switching, and difficulty disengaging rather than simply prolonged screen exposure. A key research gap is the limited integration of behavioural digital-use indicators with objective measures of attentional regulation in emerging adults aged approximately 18–29 years.
The proposed research addresses this gap through a multimodal framework combining self-reported digital dependency, smartphone-derived behavioural indicators, computerized attention tasks, and contextual variables.
Particular emphasis is placed on distinguishing duration of digital exposure from fragmentation of attention, because equal screen-time levels may represent substantially different patterns of cognitive interruption.
The study further proposes machine-learning modelling to identify behavioural configurations associated with weak attentional control while avoiding the assumption that digital use necessarily causes attention impairment.
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