A review on the effect of smartphone usage on academic performance and attention span

Abstract

The surge in usage of smartphones among college students has altered the ways that learning, socialization and identity formation take place. However, the academic cost of smartphone use is less clear. Researchers are exploring whether spending more time on entertainment apps, social media, and multitasking while studying could harm attention and academic performance due to smartphone dependence. The aim of this review is to summarize in a concise way the link between academic performance, attention span and smartphone use among students. Thirty-five peer-reviewed papers dating from 2020 to 2025 were obtained from Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus and ResearchGate based on specific key words and inclusion criteria. The methods for assessing the relationship between smartphone habits and educational results, using various statistical procedures such as Pearson correlation, multiple regression analysis etc. varied across these studies. One of the common findings throughout studies is that excessive use and non-academic usage of smartphones is negatively associated with academic performance and the attention in studying tasks. In contrast, a small number of studies either showed no effect or positive impact if smartphone use was predominantly academic/task oriented. Collectively, the studies reviewed argue that unrestricted excessive use of smartphones may be a threat to learning and attention regulation. Longitudinal and experimental research in the future is necessary to explore causation and find balanced paths of use in classroom environments.