Masooma Khan, and Ayesha Khan
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Pages: 368-376
Digital multitasking has become an integral part of university students’ academic and
everyday lives, yet its relationship with executive functioning remains relatively
underexamined in Indian university settings. The present cross-sectional correlational
study examined the association between digital multitasking and two components of
executive functioning—working memory and inhibition—among university students, with
additional examination of patterns across gender and average daily screen-time
categories. A purposive sample of 150 university students (75 males and 75 females),
aged 18–25 years, completed an adapted 20-item Digital Multitasking Scale and the
Adult Executive Functioning Index (ADEXI), comprising working-memory and inhibition
subscales. Pearson product–moment correlations revealed significant positive
associations between digital multitasking and working-memory difficulties (r = .30, p <
.01) and inhibition difficulties (r = .39, p < .01), indicating that greater digital multitasking
was associated with greater self-reported difficulties in these executive-functioning
domains. Gender-wise analyses showed significant associations for both male and
female students, although the strength of the associations varied across executive
functioning components. Across screen-time categories, the magnitude of associations
generally increased with higher average daily screen time, particularly for working
memory difficulties. These findings are consistent with cognitive-load and attentional
control perspectives, suggesting that frequent digital switching may place additional
demands on limited attentional and executive resources. However, the cross-sectional
design, reliance on self-report measures, purposive sampling, and absence of objective
measures of executive functioning limit causal interpretation and generalizability. The
findings underscore the potential cognitive implications of habitual digital multitasking
among university students and highlight the need for longitudinal and experimental
research incorporating objective measures of executive functioning and digital-use
behaviour.