effects of smartphone addiction essay

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Smartphone Addiction and Associated Health Outcomes in Adult Populations: A Systematic Review

Zubair ahmed ratan.

1 School of Health and Society, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave., Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; ua.ude.liamwou@142raz (Z.A.R.); ua.ude.liamwou@890am (M.S.A.)

2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh

Anne-Maree Parrish

Sojib bin zaman.

3 Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia; [email protected]

Mohammad Saud Alotaibi

4 Department of Social Work, College of Social Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca 24382, Saudi Arabia

Hassan Hosseinzadeh

Associated data.

Not applicable.

Background: Smartphones play a critical role in increasing human–machine interactions, with many advantages. However, the growing popularity of smartphone use has led to smartphone overuse and addiction. This review aims to systematically investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on health outcomes. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review. Five electronic databases including Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched to identify eligible studies. Eligible studies were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria and data were extracted according to the review questions. This review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020181404). The quality of the articles was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Results: A total of 27 of 2550 articles met the inclusion criteria. All of the studies were cross-sectional and focused on physical, mental, and neurological health outcomes. The majority of the studies focused on mental health outcomes and consistent associations were observed between smartphone addiction and several mental health outcomes. Anxiety and depression were commonly found to mediate mental health problems. A wide range of physical health sequelae was also associated with smartphone addiction. Furthermore, there was an association between smartphone addiction and neurological disorders. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there are consistent associations between smartphone addiction and physical and mental health, especially mental health. Social awareness campaigns about smartphone addiction and its impact on physical and mental health are needed. Further studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are warranted to validate the impacts of smartphone addiction.

1. Introduction

The 21st century is known as the age of information technology. Wireless communication and the internet are remarkable entities resulting in revolutionary changes in the field of communication [ 1 ]. In 2007, computer-based phones (smartphones) were introduced [ 2 ]. Since then, smartphones have become an indispensable part of daily life in all communities and countries. As such, smartphones have become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the technology industry [ 3 ]. Over the past decade, smartphone ownership and use have been exponentially increased globally. For instance, there were about 2.1 billion smartphone users in 2017 and the number was projected to exceed 2.8 billion by 2020 worldwide [ 4 ].

A number of novel problematic behaviors have emerged in the information technology era, such as gambling, internet gaming, and sexual behaviors, which may lead to compulsive engagement [ 5 ]. Extreme instances may lead to individuals feeling unable to control these behaviors without external influence, and these behaviors may be considered non-substance or behavioral addictions [ 6 ]. Internet addiction is one of the earliest examined forms of information technology addiction [ 7 ]. The relatively newer concept of “smartphone addiction” (SA) has also been studied based on previous internet addiction research [ 8 ]. Smartphones distinguish their use from traditional Internet use on computers or laptops because smartphones allow users to access the internet continuously regardless of time and space. Smartphone addiction is fueled by an Internet overuse problem or Internet addiction disorder [ 9 ]. The increased use of smartphones has resulted in most in people communicating daily online, as a result of interactive texts and social media, instead of face-to-face human contact. Smartphones fetch a limitless range of cognitive activities for users; smartphones forge opportunities for individuals to engage in a range of online activities such as participating in social network sites, playing video games, and “surfing the web” [ 10 ]. However, the smartphone poses a negative impact on our ability to think, remember, pay attention, and regulate emotion [ 11 ]. The increase in popularity and frequency of smartphone use has led to the emergence of clinical cases of people presenting with abuse symptoms [ 12 ].

The concept of addiction is not easy to define, and the usage of the term addiction has been considered controversial; however, central to its definition is the dependence on a substance or activity [ 13 ].

Smartphone addiction (SA) is generally conceptualized as a behavioral addiction including mood tolerance, salience, withdrawal, modification, conflict, and relapse [ 14 ]. Literature suggests that there are associations between SA and mental health [ 15 ], physical health [ 16 ], and neurological problems [ 17 ]. Furthermore, tolerance, salience, withdrawal, and cravings [ 8 , 18 ] have been associated with excessive smartphone use. However, the evidence is not conclusive [ 19 ]. Still, there is debate in the literature about the positive or negative relationship between the amount of screen time or smartphone use and health outcomes. Existing studies have provided useful data; however, it is difficult to draw consensus without a systematic review.

This systematic review is an attempt to collate empirical evidence about the health impacts of smartphone addiction among the adult population. This study aims to provide evidence to inform policy or recommendations to control and prevent smartphone addiction.

The protocol of this systematic review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020181404). It was carried out using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines ( Figure 1 ). Literature searches were conducted in the five databases including Scopus, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, and psycINFO databases. The search strategy for this review was initially developed by a series of consultations with the investigators and some preliminary searches (Z.A.R., A.M.P., S.B.Z., M.S.A., and H.H.). Expert librarians from the University of Wollongong were also consulted to refine and finalize the search strategy. All studies including controlled trials, case-control, cross-sectional, and cohort studies were included. Eligibility criteria included studies which explored smartphone exposure focusing on the adult population (aged over 18), published in the English language. This review excluded case reports, ideas, editorials, meta-analysis, review articles and opinions. Search terms included “smartphone”, “addiction”, “overuse”, “problematic use”, “excessive use”, and “adults”. Details of search strategies are provided in Supplementary Table S1 . Since the smartphone gained popularity in 2011 (after the debut of the smartphone), the literature was searched from January 2011 until July 2021. The reference lists of the selected papers were also searched for any eligible papers however no papers were found.

Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review (template taken from PRISMA flow diagram).

Three authors (Z.A.R., S.B.Z., and M.S.A.) independently reviewed all the retrieved abstracts and selected eligible papers. Any disagreements were resolved by discussion with senior researchers (A.M.P. and H.H.). The quality of each included study was assessed by using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies and were given a rating of either “good”, “fair” or “poor” and the results of the quality assessment are presented in Supplementary Table S2 . The NIH quality assessment is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of the methodological quality of cross-sectional studies [ 20 ].

3.1. Overall Search Findings

A total of 2550 potential studies were identified. After screening and removing duplicates, twenty-seven (27) studies were eligible for this review. A detailed study selection process based on the PRISMA flow chart is presented in Figure 1 . Sample sizes ranged from 30 to 5372 adults ( Table 1 ). Seven were conducted in South Korea [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], three in Saudi Arabia [ 28 , 29 , 30 ], four in China [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], four in Turkey [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], one in India [ 39 ] one in Taiwan [ 40 ], one in Switzerland [ 41 ], one in the USA [ 42 ], one in Italy [ 43 ], one in Thailand [ 44 ], and three were international studies [ 45 , 46 , 47 ] ( Figure 2 ). Smartphone addiction was measured in the study sample using different scales, however, the Smartphone Addiction Scale, Short Version (SAS-SV; n = 8) was the most common measure ( Table 1 ). Among the selected studies, nine studies were considered to be “good”, seventeen articles were considered to be “fair”, and the remaining one was considered “poor” ( Table 2 ).

Global map indicating country of selected articles.

Smartphone addiction and associated health outcomes.

Summary of outcomes.

3.2. Main Findings

3.2.1. mental health.

As outlined in Table 2 , mental health was associated with SA in fourteen studies [ 22 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. Depression and anxiety were the most common mental health conditions associated with SA [ 22 , 25 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 41 , 45 , 47 ]. Several depression measures were used; however, the Beck Depression Inventory was the most common measure used [ 28 , 30 , 36 , 40 ]. Alhassan et al. (2018) revealed that less-educated people and young adult users of the smartphone were at high risk of depression. Another study [ 28 ] found that the groups who were classified as smartphone-addicted had an increased risk of depression (relative risk 1.337; p < 0.001) and anxiety (relative risk 1.402; p < 0.001) [ 28 ]. Miles Richardson et al. (2018) found that problematic smartphone use (PSU) was positively related to anxiety [ 46 ].

Social anxiety was also associated with SA [ 41 ]. For instance, a study conducted in China during COVID-19 reported that COVID-19 anxiety was associated with the severity of problematic smartphone use [ 33 ].

Interestingly, female participants were more susceptible to SA [ 36 ] and showed significantly higher dependence on smartphones than men [ 25 ]. Further, a study conducted among university students in Thailand demonstrated that not only were female students more likely to be smartphone addicted, but smartphone addiction among female participants was likely to be negatively associated with psychological well-being [ 44 ].

3.2.2. Physical Health

Musculoskeletal problems.

The effect of SA on the musculoskeletal system was identified in four studies [ 24 , 26 , 34 , 43 ] ( Table 2 ). Among those studies, two studies reported cervical problems [ 24 , 34 ], one study demonstrated nerve thickness [ 26 ], and one study showed psoriatic arthritis [ 43 ]. Lee et al. (2014) compared cervical spine repositioning errors in different smartphone addiction groups and revealed that there were significant differences between non-addicted, moderately addicted, and severely addicted groups; the severe smartphone addict group showed the largest changes in posture, the cervical repositioning errors of flexion (3.2 ± 0.8), extension (4.9 ± 1.1), right lateral flexion (3.9 ± 1.0), and left lateral flexion (4.1 ± 0.7). [ 24 ]. A study conducted among 2438 young patients suffering from chronic neck pain found that cervical disc degeneration was more likely to be associated with SA [ 34 ]. Another study conducted among university students revealed that excess smartphone use can cause nerve injury [ 26 ]. Megna et al. (2018) found that SA was linked to higher signs of inflammation in the musculoskeletal structures of hand joints.

Sleep Quality and Sedentary Lifestyle

Five studies showed an association between smartphone addiction and sleep quality [ 29 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used in all five studies ( Table 1 ). A study conducted by Fahad et al. (2016) among 2367 university students reported 43% of the participants had decreased their sleeping hours due to SA, and 30% of the participants had an unhealthy lifestyle including weight gain, reduced exercise, and the consumption of more fast food when diagnosed with SA [ 29 ]. Another study conducted among migraine patients reported that SA can increase headache duration and decrease sleep quality [ 35 ].

One study conducted by Hye-Jin Kim et al. (2017) revealed that SA is associated with different types of accidents, such as traffic accidents; falls/slips; bumps/collisions; being trapped in the subway, impalement, cuts, and exit wounds; and burns or electric shocks [ 21 ]. The study found that self-reported experience of accidents was significantly associated with SA [ 21 ].

Neurological Problems

Two studies reported the neurological effect of SA [ 23 , 32 ]; one study found alterations in white matter integrity [ 32 ] and another study reported smaller grey matter volume [ 23 ]. Hu et al. (2017) used a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging technique to identify white matter integrity in young adults with SA and found that smartphone-addicted participants had significantly lower white matter integrity [ 32 ]. Lee et al. (2019) found that smartphone-addicted participants had significantly smaller grey matter volume (GMV) in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) [ 23 ].

4. Discussion

In recent years, several articles have examined the role of smartphone addiction and associated health outcomes among the adult population, however, substantial gaps still remain. To the best of our knowledge, no previous systematic review has been conducted to summarize these findings among this cohort. Our review is the first systematic review that utilizes empirical evidence from the last decades that demonstrates the relationship between smartphone addiction and health outcomes among adults. Interestingly, studies conducted in different parts of the world showed similar effects on health outcomes as a result of smartphone addiction. Hence, the consistency across the studies strengthens the study findings, emphasizing the association between SA and health outcomes.

Our findings suggest that depression and anxiety are significantly linked with smartphone addiction. One national USA survey found that 46% of smartphone owners believed they could not live without their phones [ 48 ]. Overuse patterns of smartphones involves a tendency to check notifications all the time, and such behavior patterns can induce “reassurance seeking” which broadly includes symptoms such as depression and anxiety [ 49 ]. This “reassurance seeking” pathway corresponds to those individuals whose smartphone use is driven by the necessity to maintain relationships and obtain reassurance from others. Bilieux and colleagues explained this reassurance-seeking behavior with the theoretical model of “problematic mobile phone use” [ 50 ]. In addition, this checking behavior is related to the next pathway, the “fear of missing out” (FOMO). One study found that FOMO mediated relations between both depression and anxiety severity with SA [ 51 ].

From our results, it is evident that musculoskeletal pain and insomnia are the two most common physical problems related to SA. Fingers, cervical, back, and shoulder problems are most commonly linked to excessive smartphone usage. Prolonged use of smartphones can cause defective postures such as forwarding head posture, which can produce injuries to the cervical spine and cause cervical pain [ 52 ]. Numerous studies found De Quervain tenosynovitis (characterized by pain in the wrist over the radio styloid process—the thumb side of wrist) was associated with different electronic devices like gaming controllers, tablets, and smartphones [ 53 , 54 ]. Texting and chatting through smartphones have been considered a risk factor for De Quervain tenosynovitis [ 55 ].

Poor sleep quality and difficulty in falling asleep or maintaining sleep has been identified as one of the negative consequences of SA, which is similar to our results [ 56 , 57 ]. Moreover, in line with our finding, another systematic review revealed that SA is related to poorer sleep quality [ 58 ]. One study found that 75% of the young adults (age < 30 years) take their phones to bed, which may increase the likelihood of poor sleep quality [ 59 ]. Smartphone addicts are unsuccessful at controlling their smartphone use, even in bed. Again, fear of missing out could be the reason of taking phones in the beds as they do not want to miss any notification [ 60 , 61 ]. In addition, blue light emitted by smartphones can have a negative effect on circadian rhythms, leading to negative sleep consequences, such as going to sleep later than intended and thus reducing overall sleep time [ 62 ].

The neurological effect of SA is not clear yet from this review. However, currently neuroimaging studies play an important role in understanding the complexity of addictive behavior [ 63 ], as they can assess any pathological change in the brain. Two studies in this review reported the negative changes in grey matter and white matter integrity in the brain with the assistance of neuroimaging ( Table 2 ), which is similar to the neuropathy caused by substance abuse [ 64 , 65 ] and Internet addiction [ 66 , 67 ]. However, the modest sample size and the lack of a clinical evaluation are the potential limitations of these studies [ 23 , 32 ].

This review indicates that smartphone addiction shares similar features with substance abuse. A consistent relationship has been demonstrated between SA and physical and mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, musculoskeletal problems, and poor sleep. However, smartphones have become a part of daily life, facilitating work, education, or entertainment. Therefore, it is important not only to utilize the advantages of the smartphone but also to reduce the negative consequences. To address SA in a proper way, a validated definition and consistent diagnostic criteria of SA is required. The findings from this research suggest that healthcare providers and policymakers should recognize the problem and take necessary steps in raising community awareness about SA and its physical and mental impact.

5. Limitations

This systematic review has several limitations. First, all of the selected studies were cross-sectional ( Table 1 ), therefore drawing conclusions about causal directions of associations is not possible. Secondly, all the papers were excluded if not in the English language; however, SA has received attention in Asian and European countries, and findings may have been published in other languages. This may lead to exclusion of studies conducted in diverse cultures and may bias the results of the review. Thirdly, most of the studies that were qualified to be included in this review were performed in developed countries, which may question the generalizability our findings to developing countries. Finally, most of the outcomes were reported over less than one year of follow-up. No standard scale and cut-off scores were used for the determination of smartphone addiction.

6. Conclusions

The current review describes the effect of smartphones on health outcomes in the adult population. Although the diagnostic criteria and effect of smartphone addiction are yet to be fully established, this review provides invaluable findings about the health impact of smartphone addiction and has significant implications for policy and decision makers. There is a need for more longitudinal studies to validate and strengthen this review’s findings.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph182212257/s1 , Table S1. Electronic search strategy.

Author Contributions

Z.A.R. conceptualized and designed the study, conducted initial searches, assessed the eligibility of the retrieved papers in the titles/abstracts and full text. S.B.Z. and M.S.A. independently reviewed all the retrieved abstracts and selected eligible papers. Z.A.R., A.-M.P., S.B.Z., M.S.A. and H.H. critically assessed the eligible studies and extracted data. Z.A.R. analyzed and interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors critically reviewed the manuscript. A.-M.P. and H.H. reviewed and approved the final manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

Authors declared no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Smartphone Addiction Among the Young

More from our inbox:, cash still has a place in a digital world, i hear the birds, singing to me.

To the Editor:

Re “ The Smartphone Trap ,” by Jonathan Haidt and Jean M. Twenge (Opinion guest essay, Sunday Review, Aug. 1):

The rise of smartphone addiction among teenagers is undeniably real. However, the proposed solution of locking students’ phones up cold turkey (during school hours) may not be ideal.

My high school participated in a program that involved completely locking up students’ phones throughout the entire school day (in 2019-20). Through many conversations with my peers, I noticed that this solution — with the goal of helping students “practice the lost art of paying full attention to the people around them,” as your essay put it — produced unintended repercussions.

In fact, increased anxiety as a result of smartphone restriction often hindered students’ ability to fully engage with other students and teachers throughout the school day. Perhaps a smarter solution may include gradually weaning students off their smartphones, and increased education regarding responsible smartphone use.

Rushaad Mistry Foster City, Calif. The writer is a high school student.

Yes, face-to-face conversation among college students has declined during the time of smartphones. Fifteen years ago, I would enter a noisy college classroom to teach a class and have to draw the attention of the students, who were gabbing away with classmates. “It’s 9 o’clock; time to begin class,” I would say in a loud voice to end the student buzz.

Now I enter quiet college classrooms. The students are not speaking to each other; they have their faces buried in their cellphones. I urge them to keep their cellphones under wraps from the time that they enter the classroom and to speak to the students sitting near them. “The student sitting next to you might become your best friend, your spouse. The person might donate a kidney to you if you are in need.”

I try, but the allure of the smartphone usually triumphs.

James Tackach Narragansett, R.I. The writer is a professor of English at Roger Williams University.

​Social media has many possible negative psychological and social effects. But perhaps the plunging happiness and self​-​esteem of teenage​ girls is due to another effect of smartphones: ​e​asy access to online pornography. Viewing degrading images of women in pornography can be traumatic, and the message is clear: Women are sex objects to be used for any purpose and disposed of at will.

​The knowledge that the boys they know are using these images could lead to despair and cynicism among girls. The images may also ​ encourage comparison of body​ type and a belief that being shaved and waxed as well as thin is necessary for attractiveness.

Anne Rettenberg San Rafael, Calif​. The writer is a ​licensed clinical social worker​.

Thank you for this all-important article. The issue of smartphones for children and teenagers does not receive the attention it needs; as your article points out, it is a serious threat to our youth.

The best practice of all is parental delay in adding full internet and social media to a young person’s phone, metering those out as the youth advances along the elementary, middle and high school years — along with weekly parental supervision of the phone.

Linda Bishop Jacksonville, Fla. The writer is a retired public-school teacher.

Re “ The United States Should Create a Digital Dollar ” (Opinion guest essay, July 26):

I couldn’t disagree more with Eswar Prasad’s views regarding the inevitable obsolescence of cash.

When power fails and towers topple (as in floods, fires, hurricanes and their aftermath), cash is king (“small bills, please”).

Mr. Prasad describes cash as being vulnerable to loss or theft. That is small change compared with what we’re seeing with digital currencies and credit card transactions.

He describes these transactions as only “relatively secure,” and while he acknowledges that electronic hacking “does pose a risk,” to say that it can be managed through more technology is a circular loop back to what makes digital transactions risky.

Bring on digital currency if you must. But leave cash in place for those of us who sensibly understand its place.

Kate Thurston Tardif Naples, Fla.

Eswar Prasad’s essay begins, “When was the last time you made a payment with dollar bills?”

The answer for me is about half an hour ago, when I bought The New York Times: $3 plus a dime, a penny and two nickels — the correct change for The Times and tax.

One morning I gave the clerk brand-new dollar bills that were stuck together, and I left the store. It was still dark. As I was about to get into my car, the clerk ran outside, calling to me, “You gave an extra dollar!”

How is digital currency going to show that kind of honesty, and from someone who may be living paycheck to paycheck?

Allen Berger Savannah, Ga.

Re “ Name That Songbird in One Click ,” by Margaret Renkl (Opinion guest essay, July 27):

The benefit of living alone as a near-nonagenarian is time for bird-watching. Thank you for reminding me of the songbird app. I look forward to knowing the identity of the avians cheering me on.

Joan May Maher Hudson, Ohio

MINI REVIEW article

Excessive smartphone use is associated with health problems in adolescents and young adults.

• Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

Background and Aims: This present paper will review the existing evidence on the effects of excessive smartphone use on physical and mental health.

Results: Comorbidity with depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD and alcohol use disorder. Excessive smartphone use is associated with difficulties in cognitive-emotion regulation, impulsivity, impaired cognitive function, addiction to social networking, shyness and low self-esteem. Medical problems include sleep problems, reduced physical fitness, unhealthy eating habits, pain and migraines, reduced cognitive control and changes in the brain's gray matter volume.

In Conclusion: Excessive smartphone use is associated with psychiatric, cognitive, emotional, medical and brain changes that should be considered by health and education professionals.

Introduction

Excessive smartphone use in young adults.

The effects of excessive use of computer screens and smartphones are raising serious concerns among health and educational authorities due to negative effects of such use in children and adolescents. Recent reviews have argued that the evidence supporting excessive smartphone use as an addictive behavior is scarce. In particular, Billieux ( 1 ) have argued that there is insufficient evidence for behavioral and neurobiological similarities between excessive smartphone use other types of addictive behaviors. Panova and Carbonell ( 2 ) also argued that there is insufficient evidence to support for the diagnosis of smartphone addiction and finally Montag et al. ( 3 ) have argued that excessive smartphone use is a form of Internet Use Disorder. The smartphones are being used for various purposes such as gaming, Social Network Services (SNS), watching video clips (YouTube). Therefore, excessive use of smartphones may have difference characteristics according to the type of smartphone use. This present paper will review the existing evidence on excessive smartphone use, and it will discuss its similarities with and differences from Internet addiction.

A PubMed Central ® and Web of Science search engines have been used with the terms: “excessive smartphone use” and “smartphone addiction” until February 2021 that resulted in 84 research studies in English language.

Predictors of Excessive Smartphone-Use

The main factors predicting excessive smartphone use were being female, preoccupation, conflict, and use for ubiquitous trait whereas the protective factor was use for learning ( 4 ). Excessive use of smartphones was correlated with impairment in the function of the family and relationship with friends, impulsiveness, and low self-esteem in South Korean adolescents ( 5 ). Finally, smartphone gaming was associated with excessive smartphone use among adolescents ( 6 ).

Sensation Seeking and Boredom

Turgeman et al. ( 7 ) have reported an interaction between high sensation seeking and abstinence whereby abstinence for 1.5 h increased excessive smartphone use ratings in high sensation seeking students. This may be explained by boredom, avoidance of uncomfortable situations and the need for entertainment ( 8 – 12 ). Lepp et al. ( 13 ) have found an association between excessive smartphone use and living sedentary life or being an “active couch potato. “Ben-Yehuda et al. ( 14 ) have investigated the effects of involvement and of interest in three conditions: state of boredom, passive activity and active activity in counter-balanced order in University students. Excessive smartphone use was not influenced by any interest or involvement in the lecture, indicating a compulsive behavior. Finally, Li et al. ( 15 ) have demonstrated that individuals with an external locus of control had less control over their smartphone use and therefore could have more negative effects such as poor sleep quality, lower academic achievements, and lower ratings of well-being.

Insecure Attachment, Poor Cognitive-Emotional Regulation and Communication Problems

Insecure attachment positively correlated with problematic smartphone use in students with unhealthy family function but not with mother-infant bonding or maternal mental health ( 16 ). Eichenberg et al. ( 17 ) showed an association between excessive smartphone use and an insecure attachment style in Problematic adolescent users. A following study reported high scores in maladaptive Cognitive-emotion regulation (CER) strategies such as self-blame, blaming of others ruminating and catastrophizing thoughts ( 18 ). Experiential avoidance (i.e., attempts to avoid thoughts, feelings, memories and physical sensations) has been associated with excessive smartphone use and social networks ( 19 ). Childhood emotional maltreatment correlated with problematic smartphone use in adolescents, and it was mediated by body image difficulties, depression, and social anxiety ( 20 ). Emotion regulation difficulties, unregulated eating, restrained eating, food addiction, and higher percent body fat were associated with excessive smartphone use among adolescents ( 21 ). Mahapatra ( 22 ) showed a strong association between both lack of self-regulation and loneliness on problematic smartphone use among adolescents that ultimately resulted in family, interpersonal conflicts, and poor academic performance. Among students, problematic smartphone users have shown high measures of worry and anger ( 23 ) whereas excessive reassurance seeking behavior mediated the association between rumination and problematic smartphone use ( 24 ). Poor communication skills were shown in Medical students who preferred to communicate emotions through texting rather than verbal communication ( 25 ) and they correlated with excessive smartphone use ( 26 ). Excessive use of the smartphone has negative impacts on people's lives by reducing face-to-face interactions, and increasing loneliness ( 27 ).

Impaired Cognitive Function

Problems in inhibitory control mechanisms in excessive smartphone users were reported ( 28 ). They have reported that while performing on the Go/NoGo task excessive smartphone users showed a negative N2 event-related potentials (ERPs) component showing reduced inhibitory control. There is further evidence for impaired attention, reduced numerical processing capacity, increased impulsivity, hyperactivity and negative social concern in heavy smartphone users ( 29 ). Heavy smartphone users showed. Inattention problems correlated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) evoked potentials in the right prefrontal cortex. Wegmann et al. ( 30 ) have found no correlations between problematic social networks use and executive function and inhibitory control measured by the Go/NoGo task. However, regression analyses showed that increased problematic social networks use is associated with higher impulsivity, especially if executive functions or specific inhibitory control were impaired.

Social Media Use and Personality

Problematic social media use has been shown to be associated with “fear of missing out” (FOMO) ( 31 , 32 ). FOMO mediated relations between both fear of negative and positive evaluation with both problematic and social smartphone use. Withdrawal and FOMO ratings were higher among participants with 72 h restricted access to smartphones compared with those without ( 33 ). There was a correlation between Social communication use and excessive use of smartphones. FOMO mediated the relationships between anxiety and depression with problematic smartphone use ( 24 , 34 ). Excessive smartphone use has been associated with social comparisons on social networking sites and perceived stress ( 35 ). Personality factors such as conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability and neuroticism have been associated with problematic smartphone use ( 36 , 37 ) whereas impulsivity, excessive reassurance seeking, but not extraversion related to problematic smartphone use in other studies ( 38 , 39 ).

Comorbidity With Anxiety, Depression OCD, ADHD and Alcohol Use Disorder

There are several studies on the comorbidity of excessive smartphone use and mental disorders and its association with sleep problems, reduced fitness and pain. Excessive smartphone use has been associated with depression, anxiety ( 40 , 41 ) and social anxiety ( 7 , 42 – 44 ) shyness and low self-esteem ( 5 – 12 , 12 – 47 ) low psychological well-being ( 48 ) and low mental well-being ( 49 ). Excessive reassurance seeking correlated with problematic smartphone use severity, and its combination with rumination mediated the relationship between depression and anxiety severity with problematic smartphone use ( 50 ). Anxiety during the COVID-19 epidemic correlated with severity of problematic smartphone use, depression and generalized anxiety ( 51 ).

Early problematic smartphone use was found as a significant predictor of depression in a three-year longitudinal study from adolescence to emerging adulthood ( 52 ). Excessive mobile use was associated with high levels of depressive moods, with loneliness serving as a moderator of this mediation particularly in men ( 53 ). Depression and anxiety were significantly associated with both excessive smartphone use ( 54 ). Depressive mood and suicidal ideation were associated with social network smartphone use ( 55 ). Interestingly, the time spent in excessive smartphone use has predicted the level of stress in users who hardly used the smartphone for self-disclosure whereas those who engaged in disclosure of their emotions and problems online, this reduced their emotional problems ( 56 ). Problematic smartphone use has been associated with psychological distress and emotion dysregulation and emotion dysregulation was shown as a mediator in the relation between psychological distress and problematic smartphone use ( 57 ). Excessive smartphone use has been also associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder symptoms ( 58 ) and ADHD ( 59 , 60 ).

History of alcoholism and father's education level explained 26% of the variance of problematic smartphone use ( 60 ). In addition, alcohol use disorder, impulsivity (Barratt scale and ADHD) and elevated occurrence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression were associated with excessive smartphone use ( 61 ). Finally, the relationship between PTSD severity and problematic smartphone use was mediated by negative urgency (a component of impulsivity) ( 62 ).

Medical Complications- Sleep, Physical Fitness, Eyesight, Migraine and Pain

Excessive smartphone use was associated with reduced sleep time and sleep quality in adolescents ( 63 ). The association between media use in bed before sleep and depression was mediated by sleep disturbance ( 64 , 65 ). Furthermore, there was an association between excessive screen time and problems in sleep onset ( 66 ), insufficient sleep ( 67 ), and insomnia ( 68 ). Long-term problematic mobile use predicted new incidences of sleep disturbances and mental distress, which was ameliorated by its discontinuation ( 69 ). Excessive mobile phone use correlated with disturbed sleep pattern and quality ( 70 ) Excessive smartphone use was associated with poorer sleep quality and higher perceived stress ( 71 , 72 ), lowered physical activity, lower muscle mass and higher fat mass ( 73 ). Other medical conditions include acquired comitant esotropia (AACE) ( 74 ) increased ocular symptoms ( 75 ), headache complaints ( 76 , 77 ) and headache duration and frequency in migraine patients ( 78 ). Young chronic neck pain patients with overuse of smartphones had higher Cervical Disc Degeneration ( 79 ). Finally, excessive smartphone users had higher median nerve Cross sectional areas (CSA's) in their dominant hands ( 80 ).

Brain Imaging

A recent study has used diffusion MRI for assessment of white matter structural connectivity, and it has shown a positive association between activity in the right amygdala and excessive smartphone use in adolescents ( 81 ). Excessive smartphone users have shown impairment in cognitive control during emotional processing of angry faces and social interaction in fMRI ( 82 ). They also showed reduced functional connectivity in regions related to cognitive control of emotional stimuli including reward ( 83 ). Reduced Gray Matter Volume (GMV) was shown in problematic smartphone users and negative correlations between GMV in the right lateral Orbito Frontal Cortex (OFC) and measures of smartphone addiction ( 84 ). Lower activity in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and a negative correlation between individuals with excessive smartphone use and both ACC GMV and activity was reported ( 85 ). Furthermore, the strength of the resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between several brain regions in fMRI positively correlated with smartphone time in bed ( 86 ). Finally, exposure to smartphone pictures in fMRI was associated with activation of brain regions associated with drug addiction and correlations of these regions with smartphone addiction scores were reported ( 87 ).

Supplementary Table 1 shows details of the studies reviewed in this paper.

There have been several reviews in recent years that have discussed the issue whether excessive smartphone use is considered a behavioral addiction ( 1 , 2 ). In addition, studies have examined whether there are differences between excessive smartphone use and Internet use disorder (IUD). Montag et al. ( 3 ) have proposed that excessive smartphone use is essentially a type of IUD. In this sense, IUD should be divided into two types of use: a mobile use and a non-mobile use. They have suggested that there is a specific use of IUD of a particular content and a generalized IUD where several channels are overused. The rationale for this division is that motivation, cognitive and affective factors predispose individuals to prefer a specific application and type of device.

However, there is little empirical evidence in support of these assumptions ( 88 , 89 ). Although there may be small differences between some mechanisms and risk factors underlying online behavioral addictions, such as pornography use, gaming disorder and social network use, the resemblance between them is very strong ( 90 ). In addition, there are few studies that have examined whether specific cognitive and motivational mechanisms could lead to a preference of a specific type of device. Nevertheless, recent studies show that excessive use of the screens including, computer screens and smartphones is associated with serious mental problems and cognitive impairments ( 91 , 92 ). Therefore, we argue that research should focus on the negative consequences of excessive smartphone use rather than on whether it should be considered as a behavioral addiction.

Recent studies show that excessive smartphone use is associated with problems of mental health and impaired psychological well-being. There is consistent evidence for comorbidity between excessive smartphone use and other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, OCD, and ADHD similar to Internet addiction ( 93 ). In addition, excessive smartphone use is related to loneliness, stress, and other negative emotions ( 56 , 94 ).

In addition to these psychological consequences, the excessive use of smartphones can potentially lead to impairments of cognitive functions. Such excessive use is related to impairments of specific attention domains (such as focused attention and divided attention), low inhibitory control, impaired working memory, reduced numerical processing capacity, and changes in social cognition. Since cognition and emotion are often intertwined it is not surprising that a common cognitive-emotional mechanism related to loss of control would be associated with impulsiveness, impairment in communication and relationship with friends and family.

Recent studies have also shown an association between an excessive use of smartphones and abnormal activity of regions in the prefrontal cortex and in the networks that connect to these regions ( 29 , 82 ). Novel findings show reduced lateral orbitofrontal gray matter, especially in social networking platforms overuse and that prolonged bedtime smartphone use has been associated with altered insula-centered functional connectivity. Gray matter volume reduction was observed also in the anterior cingulate similar to Internet and gaming disorder ( 95 ). Excessive smartphone use has also been associated with reduced cognitive control during the emotional processing in the brain.

The effects of excessive use of the media including TV, computer screens and smartphones is raising serious concerns among health and educational authorities due to deleterious effects of such use in children and adolescents. A recent study has shown an association between increased screen-based media use and lower microstructural integrity of brain white matter tracts that are associated with language and literacy skills in 5-year-old pre- school children, ( 96 ). Furthermore, a large study of 4,277 adolescents has shown a negative correlation between screen media activity and cortical thickness in fMRI implying premature aging of the brain ( 97 ). Finally, young adults and heavy media “multi-taskers” are more susceptible to interference from irrelevant environmental stimuli and from irrelevant representations in memory, and they performed worse on a task-switching ability ( 98 ). The findings so far that span from early childhood to adolescents, rapidly growing societal phenomena, emphasize the need to assess the effects of media screens on cognitive function and the brain in children, adolescents and young adults.

Excessive smartphone use shares underlying mechanisms with other addictive behaviors such as gambling disorder, in particular, reduced cognitive control and impaired activity in the prefrontal cortex which affects decision-making and emotional processing ( 99 ). Addictions in adolescents share the tendency to experience poor emotional regulation, impulsivity and impaired cognitive control and reduced ability to experience pleasure in everyday life ( 100 ).

The major limitations in studies of excessive smartphone use and Internet addiction are that they are mainly cross-sectional studies without baseline measures and rely on associations between structural and functional changes in the brain and subjective measures and no proof of a causal role in the development of the adolescent or adult brain. Finally, the review is non-systematic and it has excluded non-English language articles.

The excessive use of the smartphone has been associated with impaired cognitive functions and mental health problems. There are unique findings on the association between using smartphones, need of constant stimulation, deficits in everyday cognitive functioning and brain changes which should send alarm signals to clinicians and educators in the modern world.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.669042/full#supplementary-material

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97. Paulus MP, Squeglia LM, Bagot K, Jacobus J, Kuplicki R, Breslin FJ, et al. Screen media activity and brain structure in youth: evidence for diverse structural correlation networks from the ABCD study. NeuroImage. (2019) 185:140–53. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.10.040

98. Uncapher MR, Wagner AD. Media multitasking, mind, and brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. (2018) 115:9889–96. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1611612115

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100. Di Nicola M, Ferri VR, Moccia L, Panaccione I, Strangio AM, Tedeschi D, et al. Gender differences and psychopathological features associated with addictive behaviors in adolescents. Front Psychiatry . (2017) 8:256. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00256

Keywords: internet addiction, smartphone addiction, problematic smartphone use, internet use disorder, excessive smartphone use

Citation: Wacks Y and Weinstein AM (2021) Excessive Smartphone Use Is Associated With Health Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults. Front. Psychiatry 12:669042. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.669042

Received: 17 February 2021; Accepted: 26 April 2021; Published: 28 May 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Wacks and Weinstein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Aviv M. Weinstein, avivweinstein@yahoo.com ; avivwe@ariel.ac.il

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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How Your Cell Phone Might Affect Your Brain

Research suggests smartphones impact the brain in a variety of ways

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Daniel B. Block, MD, is an award-winning, board-certified psychiatrist who operates a private practice in Pennsylvania.

praetorianphoto / Getty Images  

• Reduced Cognitive Ability
• Worse Social and Emotional Skills
• Disrupted Sleep
• Mental Laziness
• How to Protect Your Brain

We use our phones for many things, from making business calls to checking our email to communicating with friends and loved ones. Our phones have become an inextricable part of our lives. But does this reliance on smartphones have any impact on our brains?

Some recent research indicates that it might. Experts suggest that all of this phone use might affect our social and emotional regulation skills, disrupt our sleep, and turn us into lazy thinkers.

Kids are also using these devices more and more, which has led experts to question the possible long-term effects on development. One study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that the amount of time kids spend staring at digital screens rose 52% over a three-year period.

How this might affect development remains to be seen. However, it is a question of interest for healthcare practitioners, mental health professionals, educators, parents, and anyone who uses a smartphone regularly.

At a Glance

If you're like most people, you use your phone for everything from talking to friends to managing your money to even doing your job. Unfortunately, some experts think this reliance might actually be taking a toll on our brains. Some negative effects that might happen include changes in cognitive ability, problems with social or emotional skills, problems sleeping, and mental laziness. While it's not likely (or realistic) for people to forgo their phones, their are some things we can do to protect our brains from these damaging effects.

Phone Use Can Negatively Affect Cognitive Ability

Recent research suggests that smartphone usage does indeed affect the brain. Remember, however, that such research is still in the early stages. While we know a bit more about some of the short-term effects, the long-term effects remain to be seen. 

Changes in Brain Chemistry

Some evidence indicates that using mobile phones might lead to chemical changes in the brain. In one study presented to the Radiological Society of North America, researchers found that young people with a so-called internet and smartphone addiction actually demonstrated imbalances in brain chemistry compared to a control group.

Such changes might help explain why some people develop technology addictions, and why others find it so tough to be without their phones .

Reduced Cognitive Capacity

One well-known study in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research found that cognitive capacity was significantly reduced whenever a smartphone is within reach, even when the phone is off.

Researchers dubbed this effect the "brain drain hypothesis." Essentially, we are less likely to rely on our own cognitive resources if we know an information source is readily available.

A more recent meta-analysis also found that the presence of a smartphone was associated with decreases in working memory. This is consistent with earlier results, but the newer analysis indicates that the magnitude of this effect might not be as pronounced as previously believed.

One factor that researchers think might play a part in how strongly people are affected by this: FOMO, or the fear of missing out . Being distracted by our phones suggests that we are always, on some level, thinking about what is happening in the online world—and what we might be missing when we aren't using our phones.

In other words, if you always feel a nagging sense that you're missing out on a text, news story, or celebrity gossip, keeping your phone visible while you work might be a bad idea. Consider turning it off and putting it in another room when you need to get stuff done.

Worse Reading Comprehension

You've probably noticed that how you read online text differs from how you read the printed page. For many of us, it's common to skim online articles or skip around the page to find key points. But this isn't the only difference. Some evidence indicates that we understand less of what we read online than what we do in print.

One 2020 study found that reading on an electronic device such as a smartphone results in lower reading comprehension.

The exact reasons for this are unclear, but researchers have found that people sigh less often when reading on a smartphone. This impact on respiration is also associated with excess activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex and reduced reading comprehension.

Phone Affects Social-Emotional Skills

In the commentary appearing in the journal Pediatrics , researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine took a closer look at the available literature on smartphone and iPad use among very young children.  

Using such devices to entertain or pacify children, they warn, might have a detrimental effect on their social and emotional development.

The concern, researchers suggest is that kids will not develop their own internal self-regulation mechanisms if they always rely on being distracted by a digital device.

The experts suggest that hands-on activities and those involving direct human interaction are superior to interactive screen games. The use of mobile devices becomes especially problematic when such devices replace hands-on activities that help develop visual-motor and sensorimotor skills.

There are still many unknowns about how the use of mobile devices influences child development. What concerns many experts, however, is whether the overuse of smartphones and tablets might interfere with developing social and problem-solving skills better acquired during unstructured play with interaction with peers.

Phone Use May Lead to Disrupted Sleep

Using your smartphone or tablet at bedtime might be interfering with your sleep, and not because you’re staying up late to check your email, scrolling through your social media feeds, or playing a game of online trivia.

Sleep experts warn that the type of light emitted from your mobile device’s screen might just be messing up your sleep cycle, even after you turn off your device.

In a study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences , a dozen adult participants were asked to either read on an iPad for four hours each night before bed or read printed books in dim lighting. After five consecutive nights, the two groups switched.

What the researchers discovered was that those who had read on an iPad before bedtime displayed a reduction in levels of melatonin , a hormone that increases throughout the evening and induces sleepiness. It also took these participants longer to fall asleep, and they experienced less REM sleep throughout the night.

The culprit? The type of blue light emitted by most mobile devices. The cells at the back of the eyes contain a light-sensitive protein that picks up specific wavelengths of light. These light-sensitive cells then send signals to the brain's "clock, " which regulates circadian rhythms.

Typically, blue light peaks in the morning, signaling your body to wake up for the day. Red light increases in the evening, signaling it is time to wind down and go to bed. By interrupting this natural cycle with the blue light emitted by mobile devices, the normal sleep-wake cycles are thrown out of whack.

These sleep interruptions can hurt your brain and mental health. Poor sleep is associated with various mental health problems , including mood changes, stress, anxiety, depression, and brain fog .

The next time you’re tempted to play with your mobile device in bed, think about the possible effect this might have on your brain and your sleep and consider picking up a paperback book instead.

Our Phones Might Be Making Us Mentally Lazy

Mobile devices don't just offer distraction—we also rely on them to provide information. We no longer have to memorize phone numbers or keep a Rolodex on our desks—all that information is conveniently stored on our phone’s contact list.

Instead of mulling over questions you might have about the world around you, you can just grab your phone and Google the answers. Instead of trying to remember appointments, meetings, or dates, you simply rely on an iPhone app to remind you of what you need to accomplish each day.

And some experts warn that this over-reliance on your mobile device for all the answers might lead to mental laziness. One study has found that there is a link between relying on a smartphone and mental laziness.

Smartphones don't necessarily turn people from deep thinkers into lazy thinkers, but the research does suggest that people who are naturally intuitive thinkers—or those who act based on instinct and emotions—tend to rely on their phones more frequently.

Researchers suggest that this can interfere with analytical and logical thinking. Some even wonder if using our phones too much might contribute to decreased intelligence.

Clearly, much more research is needed. Experts warn, however, that the use of mobile devices has far out-paced the available research on the subject. Scientists and doctors are just beginning to understand the potential short-term (and long-term) effects of smartphone use on the brain.

Mobile devices are bound to have their detriments, but the researchers also suggest that we have yet to fully understand how they might benefit the brain.

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So What Can You Do to Protect Your Brain?

Even though we might know that our phones might negatively affect our brains, the reality is that we need them. For many, they are a connection to information, resources, tools, and communication that are essential for daily life.

What we can do is work on becoming more intentional about how we use and interact with our phones. Strategies that can help:

Build Awareness

We need to know what we are dealing with before we can take steps to address it. This means tracking and assessing how much you are using your phone.

What are you using it for? What's your average daily screen time? Do you use your phone to soothe difficult emotions or avoid important tasks? Answering such questions can give you insight into problems you might want to address. 

Consider Setting Limits

Setting specific limits on your phone use can be helpful. It's important to be purposeful about your mobile phone use, but you should also consider what works for you.

For some people, this might involve removing certain apps from their phones. Others may find it helpful to use apps or phone settings to control how long they use certain apps or websites each day.

Some people find that it is helpful to have phone-free times or even entire days. For example, you might decide you won't use your phone after 7 PM or on Saturdays so you can fully focus on the other people in your life.

What This Means For You

While experts are beginning to get a clearer picture of the effects of cell phone on our brains, the reality is that there is still a lot that we don't know. The best thing you can do is consider some of these possible effects and take steps to be more intentional when using your phone. Give yourself breaks, set limits if you need to, and make sure that you aren't relying on tech devices to replace real-world connections.

Madigan S, Eirich R, Pador P, McArthur BA, Neville RD. Assessment of changes in child and adolescent screen time during the covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis . JAMA Pediatr . 2022;176(12):1188. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.4116

Radiology Society of North America. Smartphone Addiction Creates Imbalance in Brain . November 2017.

Ward AF, Duke K, Gneezy A, Box MW. Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity . Journal of the Association for Consumer Research . 2017;2(2):140-154. doi:10.1086/691462

Parry DA. Does the mere presence of a smartphone impact cognitive performance? A meta-analysis of the 'brain drain effect .' PsyArXiv ; 2022. doi:10.31234/osf.io/tnyda

Scientific American. Is your phone actually draining your brain ?

Honma M, Masaoka Y, Iizuka N, et al. Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension . Sci Rep . 2022;12(1):1589. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05605-0

Radesky JS, Schumacher J, Zuckerman B. Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown . Pediatrics . 2015;135(1):1-3. doi:10.1542/peds.2014-2251

Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA.  Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2015;112(4):1232-1237. doi:10.1073/pnas.1418490112

Scott AJ, Webb TL, Rowse G.  Does improving sleep lead to better mental health? . A protocol for a meta-analytic review of randomised controlled trials.  BMJ Open . 2017;7(9):e016873. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016873

Barr N, Pennycook G, Stolz JA, Fugelsang JA.  The brain in your pocket: Evidence that smartphones are used to supplant thinking . Computers in Human Behavior . 2015;48:473-480. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.029

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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What is smartphone addiction?

Causes and effects of smartphone and internet addiction, signs and symptoms of smartphone addiction, self-help tips for smartphone addiction, modify your smartphone use, step-by-step, treatment for smartphone and internet addiction, helping a child or teen with smartphone addiction, smartphone and internet addiction.

Worried about your phone or internet use? These tips can help you break free of the habit and better balance your life, online and off.

While a smartphone, tablet, or computer can be a hugely productive tool, compulsive use of these devices can interfere with work, school, and relationships. When you spend more time on social media or playing games than you do interacting with real people, or you can’t stop yourself from repeatedly checking texts, emails, or apps—even when it has negative consequences in your life—it may be time to reassess your technology use.

Smartphone addiction, sometimes colloquially known as “nomophobia” (fear of being without a mobile phone), is often fueled by an internet overuse problem or internet addiction disorder. After all, it’s rarely the phone or tablet itself that creates the compulsion, but rather the games, apps, and online worlds it connects us to.

Smartphone addiction can encompass a variety of impulse-control problems, including:

Virtual relationships. Addiction to social networking , dating apps, texting, and messaging can extend to the point where virtual, online friends become more important than real-life relationships. We’ve all seen the couples sitting together in a restaurant ignoring each other and engaging with their smartphones instead. While the internet can be a great place to meet new people, reconnect with old friends, or even start romantic relationships, online relationships are not a healthy substitute for real-life interactions. Online friendships can be appealing as they tend to exist in a bubble, not subject to the same demands or stresses as messy, real-world relationships. Compulsive use of dating apps can change your focus to short-term hookups instead of developing long-term relationships.

Information overload. Compulsive web surfing, watching videos, playing games, or checking news feeds can lead to lower productivity at work or school and isolate you for hours at a time. Compulsive use of the internet and smartphone apps can cause you to neglect other aspects of your life, from real-world relationships to hobbies and social pursuits.

Cybersex addiction. Compulsive use of internet pornography, sexting, nude-swapping, or adult messaging services can impact negatively on your real-life intimate relationships and overall emotional health. While online pornography and cybersex addictions are types of sexual addiction, the internet makes it more accessible, relatively anonymous, and very convenient. It’s easy to spend hours engaging in fantasies impossible in real life. Excessive use of dating apps that facilitate casual sex can make it more difficult to develop long-term intimate relationships or damage an existing relationship.

Online compulsions, such as gaming, gambling, stock trading, online shopping, or bidding on auction sites like eBay can often lead to financial and job-related problems. While gambling addiction has been a well-documented problem for years, the availability of internet gambling has made gambling far more accessible. Compulsive stock trading or online shopping can be just as financially and socially damaging. eBay addicts may wake up at strange hours in order to be online for the last remaining minutes of an auction. You may purchase things you don’t need and can’t afford just to experience the excitement of placing the winning bid.

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While you can experience impulse-control problems with a laptop or desktop computer, the size and convenience of smartphones and tablets means that we can take them just about anywhere and gratify our compulsions at any time. In fact, most of us are rarely ever more than five feet from our smartphones. Like the use of drugs and alcohol, they can trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine and alter your mood. You can also rapidly build up tolerance so that it takes more and more time in front of these screens to derive the same pleasurable reward.

Heavy smartphone use can often be symptomatic of other underlying problems, such as stress , anxiety, depression , or loneliness . At the same time, it can also exacerbate these problems. If you use your smartphone as a “security blanket” to relieve feelings of anxiety, loneliness, or awkwardness in social situations , for example, you’ll succeed only in cutting yourself off further from people around you. Staring at your phone will deny you the face-to-face interactions that can help to meaningfully connect you to others, alleviate anxiety, and boost your mood. In other words, the remedy you’re choosing for your anxiety (engaging with your smartphone), is actually making your anxiety worse.

Smartphone or internet addiction can also negatively impact your life by:

Increasing loneliness and depression. While it may seem that losing yourself online will temporarily make feelings such as loneliness, depression, and boredom evaporate into thin air, it can actually make you feel even worse. A 2014 study found a correlation between high social media usage and depression and anxiety. Users, especially teens, tend to compare themselves unfavorably with their peers on social media, promoting feelings of loneliness and depression.

Fueling anxiety. One researcher found that the mere presence of a phone in a work place tends to make people more anxious and perform poorly on given tasks. The heavier a person’s phone use, the greater the anxiety they experienced.

Increasing stress. Using a smartphone for work often means work bleeds into your home and personal life. You feel the pressure to always be on, never out of touch from work. This need to continually check and respond to email can contribute to higher stress levels and even burnout .

Exacerbating attention deficit disorders. The constant stream of messages and information from a smartphone can overwhelm the brain and make it impossible to focus attention on any one thing for more than a few minutes without feeling compelled to move on to something else.

Diminishing your ability to concentrate and think deeply or creatively. The persistent buzz, ping or beep of your smartphone can distract you from important tasks, slow your work, and interrupt those quiet moments that are so crucial to creativity and problem solving. Instead of ever being alone with our thoughts, we’re now always online and connected.

Disturbing your sleep. Excessive smartphone use can disrupt your sleep , which can have a serious impact on your overall mental health. It can impact your memory, affect your ability to think clearly, and reduce your cognitive and learning skills.

Encouraging self-absorption. A UK study found that people who spend a lot of time on social media are more likely to display negative personality traits such as narcissism . Snapping endless selfies, posting all your thoughts or details about your life can create an unhealthy self-centeredness, distancing you from real-life relationships and making it harder to cope with stress.

There is no specific amount of time spent on your phone, or the frequency you check for updates, or the number of messages you send or receive that indicates an addiction or overuse problem.

Spending a lot of time connected to your phone only becomes a problem when it absorbs so much of your time it causes you to neglect your face-to-face relationships, your work, school, hobbies, or other important things in your life. If you find yourself ignoring friends over lunch to read Facebook updates or compulsively checking your phone in while driving or during school lectures, then it’s time to reassess your smartphone use and strike a healthier balance in your life.

Warning signs of smartphone or internet overuse include:

Trouble completing tasks at work or home . Do you find laundry piling up and little food in the house for dinner because you’ve been busy chatting online, texting, or playing video games? Perhaps you find yourself working late more often because you can’t complete your work on time.

Isolation from family and friends . Is your social life suffering because of all the time you spend on your phone or other device? If you’re in a meeting or chatting with friends, do you lose track of what’s being said because you’re checking your phone? Have friends and family expressed concern about the amount of time you spend on your phone? Do you feel like no one in your “real” life—even your spouse—understands you like your online friends?

Concealing your smartphone use . Do you sneak off to a quiet place to use your phone? Do you hide your smartphone use or lie to your boss and family about the amount of time you spend online? Do you get irritated or cranky if your online time is interrupted?

Having a “fear of missing out” (or FOMO) . Do you hate to feel out of the loop or think you’re missing out on important news or information if you don’t check you phone regularly? Do you need to compulsively check social media because you’re anxious that others are having a better time, or leading a more exciting life than you? Do you get up at night to check your phone?

Feeling of dread, anxiety, or panic if you leave your smartphone at home , the battery runs down or the operating system crashes. Or do you feel phantom vibrations—you think your phone has vibrated but when you check, there are no new messages or updates?

Withdrawal symptoms from smartphone addiction

A common warning sign of smartphone or internet addiction is experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you try to cut back on your smartphone use. These may include:

• Restlessness
• Anger or irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sleep problems
• Craving access to your smartphone or other device

There are a number of steps you can take to get your smartphone and internet use under control. While you can initiate many of these measures yourself, an addiction is hard to beat on your own, especially when temptation is always within easy reach. It can be all too easy to slip back into old patterns of usage. Look for outside support, whether it’s from family, friends, or a professional therapist .

To help you identify your problem areas, keep a log of when and how much you use your smartphone for non-work or non-essential activities. There are specific apps that can help with this, enabling you to track the time you spend on your phone. Are there times of day that you use your phone more? Are there other things you could be doing instead? The more you understand your smartphone use, the easier it will be to curb your habits and regain control of your time.

Recognize the triggers that make you reach for your phone. Is it when you’re lonely or bored? If you are struggling with depression, stress, or anxiety, for example, your excessive smartphone use might be a way to self-soothe rocky moods . Instead, find healthier and more effective ways of managing your moods, such as practicing relaxation techniques.

Understand the difference between interacting in-person and online. Human beings are social creatures. We’re not meant to be isolated or to rely on technology for human interaction. Socially interacting with another person face-to-face—making eye contact, responding to body language—can make you feel calm, safe, and understood, and quickly put the brakes on stress . Interacting through text, email or messaging bypasses these nonverbal cues so won’t have the same effect on your emotional well-being. Besides, online friends can’t hug you when a crisis hits, visit you when you’re sick, or celebrate a happy occasion with you.

Build your coping skills. Perhaps tweeting, texting or blogging is your way of coping with stress or anger. Or maybe you have trouble relating to others and find it easier to communicate with people online. Building skills in these areas will help you weather the stresses and strains of daily life without relying on your smartphone.

Recognize any underlying problems that may support your compulsive behavior. Have you had problems with alcohol or drugs in the past? Does anything about your smartphone use remind you of how you used to drink or use drugs to numb or distract yourself?

Strengthen your support network. Set aside dedicated time each week for friends and family. If you are shy, there are ways to overcome social awkwardness and make lasting friends without relying on social media or the internet. To find people with similar interests, try reaching out to colleagues at work, joining a sports team or book club, enrolling in an education class, or volunteering for a good cause. You’ll be able to interact with others like you, let relationships develop naturally, and form friendships that will enhance your life and strengthen your health.

For most people, getting control over their smartphone and internet use isn’t a case of quitting cold turkey. Think of it more like going on a diet. Just as you still need to eat, you probably still need to use your phone for work, school, or to stay in touch with friends. Your goal should be to cut back to more healthy levels of use.

• Set goals for when you can use your smartphone. For example, you might schedule use for certain times of day, or you could reward yourself with a certain amount of time on your phone once you’ve completed a homework assignment or finished a chore, for instance.
• Turn off your phone at certain times of the day, such as when you’re driving, in a meeting, at the gym, having dinner, or playing with your kids. Don’t take your phone with you to the bathroom.
• Don’t bring your phone or tablet to bed. The blue light emitted by the screens can disrupt your sleep if used within two hours of bedtime. Turn devices off and leave them in another room overnight to charge. Instead of reading eBooks on your phone or tablet at night, pick up a book. You’ll not only sleep better but research shows you’ll also remember more of what you’ve read.
• Replace your smartphone use with healthier activities. If you are bored and lonely, resisting the urge to use your smartphone can be very difficult. Have a plan for other ways to fill the time, such as meditating , reading a book, or chatting with friends in person.
• Play the “phone stack” game. Spending time with other smartphone addicts? Play the “phone stack” game. When you’re having lunch, dinner, or drinks together, have everyone place their smartphones face down on the table. Even as the phones buzz and beep, no one is allowed to grab their device. If someone can’t resist checking their phone, that person has to pick up the check for everyone.
• Remove social media apps from your phone so you can only check Facebook, Twitter and the like from your computer. And remember: what you see of others on social media is rarely an accurate reflection of their lives—people exaggerate the positive aspects of their lives, brushing over the doubts and disappointments that we all experience. Spending less time comparing yourself unfavorably to these stylized representations can help to boost your mood and sense of self-worth.
• Limit checks. If you compulsively check your phone every few minutes, wean yourself off by limiting your checks to once every 15 minutes. Then once every 30 minutes, then once an hour. If you need help, there are apps that can automatically limit when you’re able to access your phone.
• Curb your fear of missing out. Accept that by limiting your smartphone use, you’re likely going to miss out on certain invitations, breaking news, or new gossip. There is so much information available on the internet, it’s almost impossible to stay on top of everything, anyway. Accepting this can be liberating and help break your reliance on technology.

If you need more help to curb your smartphone or internet use, there are now specialist treatment centers that offer digital detox programs to help you disconnect from digital media. Individual and group therapy can also give you a tremendous boost in controlling your technology use.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy provides step-by-step ways to stop compulsive behaviors and change your perceptions about your smartphone and the internet. Therapy can also help you learn healthier ways of coping with uncomfortable emotions—such as stress, anxiety, or depression—that may be fueling your smartphone use.

Marriage or couples counseling. If excessive use of internet pornography or online affairs is affecting your relationship, counseling can help you work through these challenging issues and reconnect with your partner.

Group support. Organizations such as Internet Tech Addiction Anonymous (ITAA) and On-Line Gamers Anonymous offer online support and face-to-face meetings to curb excessive technology use. Of course, you need real-life people to benefit fully from any addiction support group. Online support groups can be helpful in finding sources of assistance, but it’s easy to use them as an excuse to spend even more time on your smartphone. Sex Addicts Anonymous can be a place to try if you’re having trouble with cybersex addiction.

Any parent who’s tried to drag a child or teen away from a smartphone or tablet knows how challenging it can be to separate kids from social media, messaging apps, or online games and videos. Youngsters lack the maturity to curb their smartphone use on their own, but simply confiscating the device can often backfire, creating anxiety and withdrawal symptoms in your child. Instead, there are plenty of other ways to help your child find a healthier balance:

Be a good role model. Children have a strong impulse to imitate, so it’s important you manage your own smartphone and internet use. It’s no good asking your child to unplug at the dinner table while you’re staring at your own phone or tablet. Don’t let your own smartphone use distract from parent-child interactions.

Use apps to monitor and limit your child’s smartphone use. There are a number of apps available that can limit your child’s data usage or restrict texting and web browsing to certain times of the day. Other apps can eliminate messaging capabilities while in motion, so you can prevent your teen using a smartphone while driving.

Create “phone-free” zones. Restrict the use of smartphones or tablets to a common area of the house where you can keep an eye on your child’s activity and limit time online. Ban phones from the dinner table and bedrooms and insist they’re turned off after a certain time at night.

Encourage other interests and social activities. Get your child away from screens by exposing them to other hobbies and activities, such as team sports, Scouts, and after-school clubs. Spend time as a family unplugged.

Talk to your child about underlying issues. Compulsive smartphone use can be the sign of deeper problems. Is your child having problems fitting in? Has there been a recent major change, like a move or divorce, which is causing stress? Is your child suffering with other issues at school or home?

Get help. Teenagers often rebel against their parents , but if they hear the same information from a different authority figure, they may be more inclined to listen. Try a sports coach, doctor, or respected family friend. Don’t be afraid to seek professional counseling if you are concerned about your child’s smartphone use.

Support groups

On-Line Gamers Anonymous  – Help and support for problems caused by excessive game playing. (OLGA)

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous  – 12-step programs for sexual addictions. (SLAA)

More Information

• Risky Business: Internet Addiction - Help for recognizing and dealing with smartphone and internet addiction. (Mental Health America)
• Internet Gaming - Symptoms of gaming disorder. (American Psychiatric Association)
• Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time - How using a smartphone can deliver a release of dopamine, reinforcing your behavior. (Harvard University)
• Take Control - Things you can do right now to build a healthier relationship with your smartphone. (Center for Humane Technology)
• Yu, S., & Sussman, S. (2020). Does Smartphone Addiction Fall on a Continuum of Addictive Behaviors? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(2), 422. Link
• Conditions for Further Study. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association. Link
• Internet Gaming. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2, 2021. Link
• Sohn, S. Y., Rees, P., Wildridge, B., Kalk, N. J., & Carter, B. (2019). Prevalence of problematic smartphone usage and associated mental health outcomes amongst children and young people: A systematic review, meta-analysis and GRADE of the evidence. BMC Psychiatry, 19(1), 356. Link
• Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time. (2018, May 1). Science in the News. Link
• Canale, N., Vieno, A., Doro, M., Rosa Mineo, E., Marino, C., & Billieux, J. (2019). Emotion-related impulsivity moderates the cognitive interference effect of smartphone availability on working memory. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 18519. Link
• Twenge, Jean M., Thomas E. Joiner, Megan L. Rogers, and Gabrielle N. Martin. “Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time.” Clinical Psychological Science 6, no. 1 (January 1, 2018): 3–17. Link
• Lin, L. yi, Sidani, J. E., Shensa, A., Radovic, A., Miller, E., Colditz, J. B., Hoffman, B. L., Giles, L. M., & Primack, B. A. (2016). Association between Social Media Use and Depression among U.S. Young Adults. Depression and Anxiety, 33(4), 323–331. Link
• Kross, Ethan, Philippe Verduyn, Emre Demiralp, Jiyoung Park, David Seungjae Lee, Natalie Lin, Holly Shablack, John Jonides, and Oscar Ybarra. “Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults.” PLOS ONE 8, no. 8 (August 14, 2013): e69841. Link

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To Ban or Not to Ban? Educators, Parents, and Students Weigh In on Cellphones

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One reason policing cellphones in schools is so challenging is because of stakeholders’ varying opinions on their presence in the classroom, along with different views on how the problem should be dealt with—if at all.

Simultaneously taking into account the interests of students, parents, and teachers in crafting cellphone policies has proven to be a challenge. For example, while teachers may want the constant distractions of cellphones—and the hundreds of notifications they deliver each day —removed, parents may desire the security of reaching their children at any time.

Various educators have outwardly opposed the use of cellphones in classrooms, citing students’ inability to remain focused while having access to their devices. Yet educators are still divided on banning cellphones in the classroom altogether.

Education Week has spoken with many school community members, from superintendents to students, to hear their points of view. Here, we share some of the major themes that have emerged from their comments and thoughts—from Education Week reporting and recent surveys from the EdWeek Research Center surveys.

Teachers find cellphones a major classroom distraction

According to an October 2023 EdWeek Research Center survey , 24 percent of teachers thought cellphones should be banned from school campuses altogether. The growing push to restrict cellphones at school has come amid increasing concerns about and studies pointing to children’s deteriorating mental health in connection to smartphone and social media use .

Kelly Chevalier, a science teacher at Crown Point High School in northwest Indiana, told Education Week in April that her students are constantly on their phones —be it for messaging their friends, Googling information, or just playing games—describing their use as “an addiction.”

The idea of being without their phone for three hours—it literally causes some of them physiological anxiety.

As part of that October survey by the EdWeek Research Center, over 200 educators used an open-ended question to vent about their growing concerns over cellphones.

Some compared students’ use of cellphones to an addiction or described circumstances in which students became panicked over having their cellphones taken from them .

It’s impossible as a teacher to compete with the allure and addiction to the cellphone. It’s constantly alerting them, pinging, chiming, and crying for their attention.

Administrators agree banning phones on campus, some concerned with social media’s impact on student well-being

According to the EdWeek Research Center’s survey, 21 percent of principals agreed that cellphones should be banned on campus, as well as 14 percent of district leaders.

A 2022 Nature Communications study of over 17,000 teenagers and young adults suggests middle school students, in particular, are more vulnerable to the negative effects of social media.

Students have made their voices heard on the negative impacts of social media, from worsening grades to cyberbullying . Charles Longshore, assistant principal of Dothan Preparatory Academy in Dothan, Ala., has seen it firsthand with his 7th and 8th grade students.

Longshore blames cellphones for “seriously undermining” the climate of his school, causing him to spend more of his time dealing with phone-related disciplinary referrals and arguments. As a result, Longshore supports barring students from cellphone use during school hours.

Our population being in that rough transitional phase in their lives in general, what their minds are going through, their bodies are going through, socially what they are going through, [cellphones] were the ultimate distraction.

The school’s ban on cellphones stemmed from the serious distractions they presented for students in the classroom and on campus.

Social media is an important aspect of the cellphone use debate largely because, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey , 58 percent of teens ages 13-17 use TikTok daily, and around 50 percent use Snapchat and Instagram daily. As Dothan, Ala. administrators have seen , social media has become a source of public embarrassment and bullying among students.

In fact, a 2024 EdWeek Research Center survey found that 92 percent of educators believe social media has a somewhat negative to very negative impact on how students treat others in real life.

Students and parents weigh in on cellphone and social media bans

While many educators openly oppose students’ use of cellphones at school, some parents and students believe avoiding or restricting cellphone use may actually hurt students’ emotional and academic development.

Ava Havidic, a recent graduate of Millennium 6-12 Collegiate Academy in Tamarac, Fla., and a student facilitator for the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Student Leadership Network on Mental Health, believes preparing students for the future does not require banning their use of cellphones and social media.

Whether we put bans on social media, it's just going to make it harder for them to face those challenges in the future. For example, if they don't have access to [phones] in class, what about in college when they have the freedom to do that?

Trent Bowers, superintendent of the Worthington district in the Columbus, Ohio, metro area is a father of three and believes teachers and parents should have more engagement in crafting new policies. But he does agree with the positive implications of a cellphone ban.

As a dad of three daughters, one still in high school, I see real pluses and minuses for the time they spend on phones. Speaking as a dad, I wouldn't have minded for them not to have the ability to be on phones for six or seven hours a day because it would've just given them a break from that.

Some teachers and experts believe in a more balanced approach to cellphone bans

With rising phone ownership among students ages 8-18, some teachers don’t believe in challenging the use of cellphones in school.

Nicole Clemens, an English teacher at a central Missouri high school, believes educators need to come to terms with coexisting with phones. While Clemens teaches at the same high school her daughter went to in June 2022, she still finds it comforting to be able to reach her through a text.

There are so many teachers who are anti-cellphone, and I just think that that ship has sailed. You don’t have to like them, but you do have to figure out how to coexist with them.

Clemens believes students should be taught the importance of using their devices responsibly , instead of having them completely taken away.

According to research by Common Sense Media , 43 percent of children ages 8-12, and 88-95 percent of teenagers age 13-18 own a smartphone. In fact, about half of children in the United States own a smartphone by the time they are 11.

Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician and the director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, is concerned with cellphones being too much of a distraction, but believes schools should avoid banning them, as such a move can feel “threatening to parents” who want to be in contact with their children during school hours.

They’re building their own society. If you have Mom or Dad in your head all day long, [adolescents] never get to learn or practice taking care of themselves or being themselves in that environment.

Rich suggests a cellphone-free environment for students, without the restrictions of a ban, which could spark resistance from parents.

David Yeager, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes the struggle between educators and students over cellphones is making the problem worse. He said it’s important for educators to understand why cellphones and social media are so alluring to the adolescent brain.

If adults learn to see teenagers’ phone use in a more compassionate way, that our entire economy has squeezed this huge source of information about their social well-being into this tiny device, it’s totally reasonable for them to pay attention to that device.

Yeager also believes a ban is unnecessary and that “empathy from educators can go a long way,” given the idea that cellphone use is constantly seen as a sign of defiance or a student’s lack of impulse control .

A Colorado high school lifted its ban on cellphones and has decided to incorporate the devices into instruction. Chris Page, principal of Highlands Ranch High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., feels cellphones present useful educational opportunities for students and educators.

There are 100,000 ways that kids use their cellphones and the other half of this is that it’s hard to tell a kid not to use their cellphone when the adult in front of them has to use theirs. We decided we just weren’t going to fight that fight anymore.

While Page encourages the students’ use of cellphones in the classroom, teachers create their own rules regarding their use. Page believes it’s his school’s responsibility to teach students how to manage their cellphone use to prepare them for college and work.

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Nomophobia and your family: how mobile phone addiction is really impacting life (and expert tips to make changes)

Endlessly scrolling on our phones could negatively impact our children’s long-term well-being. We’ve all been there and felt the guilt, so here’s how to put the phone down and get back into family life.  

We’ve all fobbed our kids off while scrolling social media feeds, reaching for our phones when we hear an alert, or pretending to be ‘checking emails’ while we read the latest news headlines or do some online shopping. You’re not alone in taking a 5-minute breather - it can be good for you to step away for a break. However, research is emerging that too much mindless staring at our phones could be affecting our kids’ mental health and anxiety levels, so how can we take control of our parenting style and be more aware?

While phone addiction isn’t yet defined as a medical addiction, there’s a lot of research to suggest that it is becoming a problem in our day-to-day relationships, especially with our children. Technoference, phubbing, a welcome distraction from the boredom of everyday parenting - whatever you want to call it - phone addiction is a thing, and studies are starting to link it to behavioural problems in our children. “Most adults use their phones daily, and many do not realise the potential impacts it can have on the family, specifically children,” says addiction psychiatrist Dr Alexander Lapa . “Social media, in particular, is a common cause of frequent phone use and addiction.”

We dig into the research behind phone addiction, talk to the experts about being more present in family life, and discover practical ways to put down your phone.

 How does phone addiction affect families? 

Smartphone addiction affects families in so many ways and if anything the grown-ups using their phones so much is perpetuating kids using them more. So it's no surprise that phone addiction is a growing problem across the globe. While there isn’t enough research to tell us about addiction rates in the UK, studies in Saudi Arabia and China have found addiction rates to be as high as 40%.

More recently, researchers have been investigating how phone usage affects family relationships. One study on hundreds of children examined how 'phubbing' (ignoring your child in favour of your phone) affected parent-child relationships. It found that phubbing made kids feel neglected and rejected and caused teens to use their phones more as a coping mechanism, continuing the cycle of phone addiction. 

A US study into 'technoference’ (a smartphone or other tech device interrupting a conversation or activity with your kids) found that almost half of parents experienced technoference at least three times a day. Parents found that these interruptions were more likely to result in behavioural problems in their kids, for example, acting up, whining or sulking, having temper tantrums or being easily frustrated by tasks. 

“Children can pick up bad habits from behaviours they witness, and frequent phone use can influence the way children treat technology and their general behaviour,” says Dr Lapa. “If a parent has a phone addiction, children may resort to bad behaviour or behave erratically in order to grab a parent’s attention. Children may also develop poor social skills and struggle to maintain eye contact or concentrate for long periods of time as a result of a parent’s phone addiction.”

It’s not just families who are affected. The addictive use of smartphones more generally has been linked with mental disorders like bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and personality disorders.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though! A Chinese study in 2023 found that close-knit families tend to be less addicted to their phones, and the stronger the bond, the less phone usage. So, understanding how to strengthen bonds within your family can help reduce how much time you spend on your phone. 

Phone addiction symptoms

It’s important to stress that while the following symptoms can be signs of a phone addiction, it doesn’t mean you have one! Before you throw your phone across the room or lock it in a drawer, be kind to yourself and realise that we’ve all experienced most of these at some point or another. Just because you occasionally feel one or more of the following doesn’t mean you’re addicted. But it could help you understand your phone usage more often and how in control you really are. “Using your phone regularly may not indicate a phone addiction, but certain behaviours and excessive use can,” says Dr Lapa. 

Signs you may have a phone addiction: 

• Feeling bad when you can't use your phone, like if it's lost or out of battery.
• Other people have complained to you about how much you’re on your phone.
• Always thinking about your phone and checking for new messages or updates.
• Using your phone so much that it causes problems with your family or work.
• Using your phone on holidays and during family events so much that you miss key moments and memories. 
• Thinking your phone is vibrating or ringing, even when it's not.
• Hiding your phone use by sneaking off to spend time on it.
• Losing a sense of time passing while you’re on your phone. 
• Ignoring how much your phone use affects your life.
• Being really focused on your phone and not paying attention to other things.
• Feeling like you can't stop using your phone, even when you want to.
• You're not getting things done because you're always on your phone.
• Feeling anxious when you don't have your phone with you.
• Trying to use your phone less but not succeeding.
• Needing to use your phone more and more to feel satisfied.
• Using your phone all the time, even when you don't want to.

How to quit your phone addiction

We’ve asked our experts for their top tips on reducing phone usage. Here are 8 tried and tested ways to quit your addiction (and enjoy real life more). 

1. Set usage limits

Understandably, reducing your phone use can feel daunting, especially if you're always used to having your phone with you. Start by setting small, achievable limits on your phone usage each day. 

Try using an app to track your phone usage. While initial usage amounts may seem super scary (‘How on earth did I spend three hours on my phone today?!’), they will help you understand your usage patterns and make positive changes. There are even apps that can limit when you can access your phone.

Remember, it's okay to take it one step at a time and gradually decrease your screen time as you become more comfortable with the change.

2. Share with your kids what you’re doing

Kids love getting involved in a project, especially if it involves them telling you off! Why not let your child know you’re trying to reduce your usage and ask them to remind you if they see you on your phone? If they’re old enough, ask them how they feel when you ‘phub’ them in favour of your phone. It could be the eye-opener you need to start cutting back.

3. Be mindful when you’re using it

Being mindful of your phone usage doesn't mean beating yourself up over it. It's about observing your habits without judgement and understanding why you turn to your phone in certain situations. 

“From a psychotherapy perspective, phone addiction - like other addictions - represents an 'unmet need',” says counsellor Georgina Sturmer. “So we might be feeling worried or bored or depressed or lonely, and our phone offers that easy hit of 'cheap dopamine' that allows us to ignore or suppress these other feelings.”

In other words, what feelings trigger you to reach for your phone? Is it restlessness, boredom, anxiety, or stress? By practising mindfulness, you can gain insight into your behaviours and develop healthier ways to cope with stress or boredom. “Think about what you might need to bring into your life in order to nourish yourself when you're feeling this way,” suggests Sturmer.

Sturmer also suggests avoiding ‘double screening’ to be more mindful in the moment. “If you're watching TV, or working on your computer, try to stay focused on what you're doing. Double screening is a habit we often subconsciously copy from those around us.”

4. Create phone-free zones or have a digital detox

Designating certain areas or times as phone-free zones can create boundaries between you and your device. This doesn't mean you have to disconnect from the world completely; it allows you to be more present in the moment and fully engage with your surroundings. For example, have a no phones at the table rule, switch off at 9 pm, or don’t take your phone to bed.

Taking breaks from your phone, even for short periods, can rejuvenate your mind and body. Remember to prioritise self-care and permit yourself to disconnect. Even if you still use your phone in front of your kids, you are practising other ways to reduce dependence. Over time, this will feed into your everyday life, too. 

"I bought a box to keep our phones in," mum of three, Dionne tells us. "It was a game changer and such a strong visual to the family that we are not doing this, we are physically and intentionally putting [our phones] away."

The Lockbox with timer, £38.99 from Amazon Medicine Code Lock box (big enough for iPads too), £19.58 from Amazon Personalised Family Time Box, £23.99 from Etsy

5. Use the technology you already have

"Most mobiles have focus mode, which on Apple devices gives you the option to mute notifications from apps during selected times of the day, which can reduce your likelihood of picking up the phone,” says Dr Lapa.

“Android have a similar feature and goes one step further by restricting access to apps you select during certain times of the day, which can be especially beneficial if social media apps are the root cause of phone addiction.”

6. Find alternatives

Different activities or hobbies that don't involve your phone can be a rewarding experience. “Goal setting is a common therapy method used to treat various addictions and finding alternative activities that do not involve a phone,” suggests Dr Lapa. 

Think about activities that bring you joy or fulfilment, such as reading a book, walking, or being creative. Investing time in these activities can reduce your reliance on your phone for entertainment. Try finding activities you and your family can do together. 

7. Get outside and be active

Physical exercise or outdoor activities are good for your health and can also help distract you from the urge to use your phone. Whether you go for a run, practice yoga, or just walk with the dog, find activities that make you feel good and prioritise them in your everyday routine. 

8. Remove your most used apps, like social media, from the phone

If you continually reach for your phone to check Facebook, Instagram, or X, think about deleting them from the device. You can always check in on a laptop later. Mute active Whatsapp groups and conversations and check in at specific times instead of every time there’s a ping. 

What to do if you think you need more help

If you think your phone addiction is significantly impacting your life and your family relationships, and you're struggling to make changes on your own, get support from a mental health professional. Cognitive behavioural therapy can help to stop compulsive behaviours while addressing feelings that cause you to reach for your phone in times of difficulty. 

Our experts

Get more expert advice and information on being more present with your kids, from understanding what core childhood memories are and how to shape them to how ‘slow parenting’ can improve your connection – with practical examples to try. Plus, knowing how to talk to your kid about their emotions isn’t always easy - try these 7 child-therapist-approved ways to get them talking , from asking open-ended questions to not challenging their feelings.