Posted on 11/28/2022 12:27:05 PM PST by ShadowAce
Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers found that problematic smartphone use is linked with low self-esteem as well as negative cognitive outcomes.
The majority of people who live in industrialized countries have smartphones. The fear of being without one’s smartphones is known as “nomophobia” and has become a social problem. Research shows that people who have smartphone addiction tend to report more loneliness and experience self-regulation deficits.
Furthermore, people who have smartphone addictions are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when their smartphone use is restricted. Researchers Rosa Fabio, Alessia Stracuzzi, and Riccardo Lo Faro were interested in investigating the relationship between smartphone usage and behavioral and cognitive self-control deficits.
Fabio and colleagues recruited 111 participants, ranging from ages 18 to 65. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were college students and 78% were workers. Each participant’s phone data was retrieved via the “SocialStatsApp” which provides information about the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to determine each participant’s risk of smartphone addiction and severity. Participants also responded to items on the short version of the Psychological General Well-Being Index, the Fear of Missing Out Scale, and the Procrastination Scale.
This study consisted of three phases: a pre-test phase, an experimental phase, and a post-test phase. For the pre-test phase, Fabio and colleagues assessed each participant’s baseline use of their smartphone via the SocialStatsApp. For the experimental phase, participants were instructed to limit their smartphone use to one hour a day for three consecutive days. For the post-test phase, participants were allowed to use their smartphones as they pleased for seven consecutive days.
On the day before and after the experimental phase, participants were assessed on working memory, attention, executive control, auditory reaction time, visual reaction time, the ability to inhibit motor response, and behavioral inhibition.
Results show that participants who had higher levels of smartphone addiction had a higher percentage of noncompliance. Participants with higher levels of smartphone addiction spent more time using their phones in all three phases, even when they were instructed to limit their smartphone use during the experimental phase.
Results also show that participants with higher levels of smartphone addiction tended to exhibit worse working memory, visual reaction time, auditory reaction time, ability to inhibit motor response, and behavioral inhibition compared to participants with lower levels of smartphone addiction.
There were no significant differences in performances on these measures for each participant between the pre-test phase and the post-test phase. Lastly, participants with higher levels of smartphone addiction scored lower on the Psychological General Well-Being Index, and higher on the Fear of Missing Out Scale and the Procrastination Scale.
Fabio and colleagues argue that their findings shows that people with high levels of smartphone addiction display less self-control. Poor self-regulation could have negative consequences on people’s daily lives, such as deficiencies in cognitive tasks and slower reaction times. The researchers additionally say that people with lower levels of smartphone addiction have a better perception of their general well-being and quality of life, considering these participants displayed fewer procrastination behaviors and less fear of being excluded.
A limitation of this study is that some of the original participants left the study when they found out they would have to limit their smartphone use to one hour a day for three consecutive days, so data from people with likely very high levels of smartphone addiction is missing. Fabio and colleagues recommend that future research should investigate individuals with high levels of smartphone addiction and their withdrawal effects.
The study was titled: “Problematic Smartphone Use Leads to Behavioral and Cognitive Self-Control Deficits“.
I have an old flip-phone G2. I’ve gotten messages from Verizon just about every week to upgrade before the end of the year. I upgraded to a G4 flip-phone. Can’t stand the sight of folks walking around with their noses glued to their smartphone.
You never know when you might need to know the square milage of Greenland.
Or a better sugar-free butter cookie recipe.
Or anything else - anything at all.
But I do NOT use facebook or twitter AT ALL - ever.
So I'm triple-safe.
No, not a moron - not me.
;-)
PS:
Greenland covers about 836,000 square miles (2.17 million square kilometers), or about three times the area of Texas. Only 158,000 square miles (410,000 square km) of that surface are ice-free.
/Sarc
However, I never have it out when I am out eating, or with other people in general. I find that behavior quite rude and insulting.
Hold my beer while I charge my smartphones.
Squares with what I’ve noticed about young people who sit around in groups texting people that aren’t present instead of talking to each other.
Few things more frustrating and socially awkward than being out to dinner with someone who can’t put down the phone because of tik tok. We shouldn’t have to compete with strangers. We’re the ones who show up in these people’s lives. Why remote people talking nonsense on a screen is more compelling than people in person I have no idea. It’s a cultural decay.
It’s scary to be a passenger when the driver is watching tik tok and not the road. It’s sad when people think those they interact with on tik tok but avoid meeting in person are a relationship. Those who are there for you are relationships.
It’s nothing to see young people pull out their phones between customers. They are addicts. It’s no longer the “boob tube” parents need to worry about it’s digital devices. I hate that work has their own mobile devices that we’re required to use because it makes it impossible not to feel like I am part of the problem.
I like the idea of “screen time” on Apple devices but it’s not going to help someone with an addiction. I mean if you are giving up sleep to go online for tik tok live there’s a problem. If you see your worth in how many followers or likes you have it’s a problem. This generation are going to end up like child celebrities. Once the world moves on to the next shiny thing, where will they go for affirmation and self worth?
This. It’s ridiculous but that is their preference.
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