{"id":677941,"date":"2025-06-30T11:45:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T08:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/survey-identifies-top-factors-americans-blame-for-declining-focus-and-attention\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T11:45:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T08:45:28","slug":"survey-identifies-top-factors-americans-blame-for-declining-focus-and-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/survey-identifies-top-factors-americans-blame-for-declining-focus-and-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey identifies top factors Americans blame for declining focus and attention"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3d899ea95b8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3d899ea95b8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/survey-identifies-top-factors-americans-blame-for-declining-focus-and-attention\/#Survey_methodology\" >Survey methodology<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Tim Rush, who runs a local coffee shop, says the time he spends multitasking contributes to his short attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.jpg\" alt=\"How to refocus in the age of distraction\" title=\"Tim Rush, who runs a local coffee shop, says the time he spends multitasking contributes to his short attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Tim Rush, who runs a local coffee shop, says the time he spends multitasking contributes to his short attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sambarecovery.com\/rehab-blog\/average-human-attention-span-statistics\" target=\"_blank\">Studies show<\/a> that the average attention span is now only eight seconds. That&#8217;s about as much time as it takes to read a few sentences before being distracted.<\/p>\n<p>A new national survey of 1,000 American adults commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine finds that stress and anxiety contribute most to a short attention span (43%), followed by lack of sleep (39%) and digital devices (35%).<\/p>\n<p>Other contributing factors include boredom or lack of interest (31%); multitasking (23%); lack of physical activity (21%); poor diet\/hydration (20%) and medical conditions such as ADHD (18%).<\/p>\n<p>Only 25% of survey respondents said they don&#8217;t have trouble with their attention span.<\/p>\n<p>Evita Singh, MD, a psychiatrist with Ohio State&#8217;s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health said this is something she sees often.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The stress and the ruminating and thinking about things over and over in your mind can certainly impact attention span and the ability to focus,&#8221; said Singh. &#8220;Often when patients come to see me, they&#8217;re worried about their ability to focus, and there&#8217;s a good chance that it ends up being because they&#8217;re so stressed out or they&#8217;re anxious. So we work on treating that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"mb-4\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\">\n    <meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"How to refocus in the age of distraction\"\/><br \/>\n    <meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/video\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.mp4\"\/><br \/>\n    <meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"New survey reveals what Americans believe contributes most to short attention spans. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center\"\/><br \/>\n    <meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2025-06-27T10:33:15-04:00\"\/><br \/>\n        <meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/video_tmb\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.mp4.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n    <meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/video\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.mp4\"\/><br \/>\n            <video class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\" id=\"jwVID84076\" controls=\"\" poster=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/video_tmb\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.mp4.jpg\"><source src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/video\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\"><\/source><\/video><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up mt-4\" itemprop=\"caption\">New survey reveals what Americans believe contributes most to short attention spans. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Short attention spans can have long-term consequences, she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When people are multitasking, when they have so many things in their mind that they&#8217;re thinking about, they can get exhausted,&#8221; Singh said. &#8220;And then it&#8217;s really hard to enjoy things, which can then lead to depression or anxiety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To help improve attention spans and the ability to focus longer, Singh created a tool to help.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s called Take Five:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>T\u2014Take frequent breaks.<\/li>\n<li>A\u2014Actively engage in the one task at hand.<\/li>\n<li>K\u2014Keep distractions to a minimum.<\/li>\n<li>E\u2014Eliminate multitasking.<\/li>\n<li>Five\u2014Take five minutes to refocus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;For example, can we do five minutes of a small workout practice, or a little bit of mindfulness or something else that we enjoy?&#8221; Singh asked.<\/p>\n<p>If techniques such as &#8220;Take Five&#8221; are not working, and a lack of focus or short attention negatively impacts day-to-day life, Singh encourages people to seek help from a mental health professional.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are many different things that can lead to why we&#8217;re having a hard time focusing or having trouble with attention,&#8221; Singh said. &#8220;But being able to recognize that while also giving grace to ourselves that we don&#8217;t need to be &#8216;on&#8217; and focusing 100% of the time is also really important.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Psychiatrist Evita Singh, MD, shares her &quot;Take 5&quot; technique with a patient who is searching for ways to refocus her priorities and improve her attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the-1.jpg\" alt=\"How to refocus in the age of distraction\" title=\"Psychiatrist Evita Singh, MD, shares her &quot;Take 5&quot; technique with a patient who is searching for ways to refocus her priorities and improve her attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                Psychiatrist Evita Singh, MD, shares her &#8220;Take 5&#8221; technique with a patient who is searching for ways to refocus her priorities and improve her attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Survey_methodology\"><\/span>Survey methodology<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This study was conducted by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from May 2\u2014May 5, 2025, among a sample of 1,008 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n=978) and telephone (n=30) and administered in English. The margin of error for total respondents is +\/-3.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.<\/p>\n<p>All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. This report provides information about the sampling procedures and the methods used to collect, process, and weight data for this study.<\/p>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOhio State University Medical Center<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"http:\/\/medicalcenter.osu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n                                                 <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 Survey identifies top factors Americans blame for declining focus and attention (2025, June 30)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved 30 June 2025<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-06-survey-factors-americans-blame-declining.html\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n                                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-06-survey-factors-americans-blame-declining.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Rush, who runs a local coffee shop, says the time he spends multitasking contributes to his short attention span. Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Studies show that the average attention span is now only eight seconds. That&#8217;s about as much time as it takes to read a few sentences before being&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":677942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/how-to-refocus-in-the.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-677941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}