Introduction 3
Anxiety and depression 3
Stress 4
Sleep quality 5
Conclusion 7
References 8
Smartphone Addiction
Introduction
The utilization of smartphones has become indispensable to the daily life of many people, as they have quickly evolved from the first mobile phones, used only to make phone calls, to devices with broad functionalities including instant messaging, video calls, internet browsers and access to numerous applications developed to check e-mails, join social media platforms, play games, read e-books, edit documents, among many countless other purposes.
According to Statista (2016), over two billion people worldwide are smartphone users, and surveys conducted in the United States conclude that 81% of users keep their smartphones near them almost all time during waking hours, with 41% admitting to checking their phones several times within one hour; however, 61% of the respondents claim to not be addicted to their smartphones, believing they use them less often than other people.
Moderation is the key to a balanced life, and this applies to every subject: work, sports, diet, hobbies, etc. Taking advantage of technological advances, smartphones in this case, brings benefits such as easier and faster communication with family and friends, support in organization of tasks and storing of memories through photography and video. However, as any other addiction, excessive smartphone use is not harmless: smartphone addiction increases anxiety, depression and stress levels, reduces sleep quality and encourages social isolation. This paper will analyze the previous statement, its implications, and will provide evidence to support it.
Anxiety and depression
Even though there does not exist established criteria to diagnose smartphone addiction, for practical purpose this paper will consider smartphone addicts those who check their devices several times every hour.
Users who are over-attached to their smartphones check them constantly for new messages, social media updates, news, or simply out of habit. This leads to a necessity of being connected at all times, which generates anxiety given a situation in which the smartphone is forgotten and the user does not have access to it, has run out of battery, does not have signal or is otherwise unusable. Just as someone feels the need to put on a seat belt when driving or else feel unprotected, a smartphone over-user when separated from his device may feel isolated and unable to communicate even if surrounded by people. According to a study by Tossel, Kortum, Shepard, Rahmati and Zhong (2015) in which 34 people who did not own smartphones were provided with iPhones for one year and all their activity was logged, 62% of the participants admitted they had become addicted to their smartphones and perceived more anxiety when they could not turn on their devices or check their favorite app, experienced discomfort when the phone was running out of battery, and even felt lost without the device.
Moreover, research conducted by Roberts, Pullig and Manolis (2015) suggest that the constant need to use smartphones may be an indication of trying to compensate for negative moods and emotional instability. This is due to the fact that, while using a smartphone, users can distract themselves from having negative thoughts, feelings, memories, or dealing with real-life issues. In consequence, excessive smartphone use has been linked to an individual’s loss of motivation and energy to engage in activities outside their household, which is characteristic of depression. The correlation between smartphone use and depression is not clear, as reliable empirical data on the subject is difficult to obtain; however, many surveys and studies have arrived at the conclusion that smartphone addiction is a risk factor for depression.
Stress
Smartphones provide immediate access to many platforms that people did not previously have except through a computer, including e-mail, social media, document-editing software, etc. Because of this, users are constantly performing many simultaneous activities, receiving notifications from different apps throughout the day and persistently responding to text messages. One of the major challenges created by smartphones is that even when users desire to take a break from using them (during vacations, for example, when the user is supposed to be out of the office) is that unless the device is turned off or out of service, the user is always connected¸ which does not permit to take some usually much-needed mental breaks. Consequently, people who use their smartphones more frequently have a tendency to experience higher levels of stress, which Mozes (2012) attributes to “the relentless need to immediately review and respond to each and every incoming message, alert or bing”. Therefore, the pressure to multitask imposed by the excessive use of smartphones, as well as the invasion of personal time and constant interruptions are the main factors that influence stress. Moreover, some users may obsess over difficulties in learning how to use a smartphone, or may experience stress related to making purchase decisions, as smartphone addiction makes it difficult to separate from the user’s current device.
Support for this claim is a poll conducted by Witters and Liu (2014), which shows that 48% of the respondents who frequently check their work e-mails on their mobile phones out of office hours experience a substantial amount of stress on any given day. Furthermore, many smartphones users utilize their devices to check on their social media platforms. According to Hampton, Rainie, Lu, Shin and Purcell (2015), the use of said platforms can increase the awareness of stressful events in the lives of others, which consequently raises a particular user’s stress level.
Sleep quality
Excessive use of smartphones may reduce sleep quality, caused by smartphone-related anxiety and stress accumulated throughout the day, use of the device during nighttime, excessive exposure to blue light, among other factors.
According to Demirci, Akgonul and Akpinar (2015) compared the subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, use of sleep medication and daytime dysfunction of smartphone non-user, low-user and high-user groups. The findings showed that sleep quality in the high-user groups was significantly lower, and daytime dysfunction was higher.
Sleep duration is one of the major factors, given that excessive use of smartphone technology is associated with later bedtimes, thus reduced hours of sleep. This is related to utilization of the device while in bed and simply trying to actually sleep at a later time, but also to blue-light exposure. According to Khazan (2015), blue light suppresses melatonin, which is a hormone that helps with sleep timing and circadian rhythm, and this results in sleep deprivation and reduced REM sleep minutes which significantly reduces sleep efficiency. Considering this, experts recommend to refrain from using smartphones or any other device with a lit screen, one to two hours before bedtime, which is a recommendation people who are addicted to their smartphones have difficulty following. Reduced sleep quality caused by smartphone light may lead to impaired memory, difficulty learning, anxiety, depression and slower reflexes.
Social isolation
Seeing people absorbed in their smartphones is common and, frequently, social gatherings consist of groups of people who are not actually speaking to each other, but rather devoting their complete attention to their smartphones. Even though one of the major benefits of smartphones is that they provide a platform to communicate with people who may be miles away, which allows for people who cannot see each other in person maintain strong relationships and to expand relations through social networking, smartphone addiction impairs in-person social interactions.
Constantly checking mobile devices is an impediment to quality conversations among people who are physically together, as it serves as a constant distraction that makes interactions less fulfilling. A study conducted by Misra, Cheng, Genevie and Yuan (2014) indicates that “conversations in the absence of mobile communication technologies are rated significantly superior compared with those in the presence of a mobile device”, which they attributed to divided attention caused by smartphone use.
Surely, some people use this technology to keep in touch with family and friends, however, many isolate themselves from the real world only to be absorbed by their mobile phones while watching pictures, playing games, social networking, or performing any other activity that, though harmless if moderated, can negatively influence interpersonal relationships when conducted in erroneous social contexts.
Conclusion
The development of smartphone technology has brought significant benefits to society, mainly through the widespread access to information and fast means of communication. However, the expanding functionalities of these devices have causes many users to become addicted, to the extent of feeling lost when not having the device by their side.
Excessive use of smartphones and their applications has been linked to anxiety and depression, as users tend to check their mobile phones several times per hour expecting to receive messages, notifications, or any other feedback from their phone. Consequently, when lacking access to said device, users feel anxious over not being able to communicate. Moreover, studies show that frequent smartphone use is related to depression, as they are used to escape negative feelings and thoughts. Regarding sleep quality, smartphone addiction causes reduced hours of sleep, due to later bedtime hours and exposure to blue light, which also reduces sleep quality causing several daytime dysfunctions. Lastly, smartphone use is related to impaired interpersonal relations caused by divided attention in social gatherings.
In conclusion, intelligent and moderate smartphone use allows to take advantage of all the benefits inherent to this technology, but development of an addiction to these devices may significantly reduce a user’s quality of life.
References
Demirci, K., Akgonul, M., & Akpinar, A. (2015). Relationship of smartphone use severity with sleep quality, depression, and anxiety in university students. Isparta, Turkey.
Hampton, K., Rainie, L., Lu, W., Shin, I., & Purcell, K. (2015, January 15). Social Media and the Cost of Caring. Retrieved from Pew Research Center Website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/15/social-media-and-stress/
Khazan, O. (2015, February 24). How Smartphones Hurt Sleep. Retrieved from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/how-smartphones-are-ruining-our-sleep/385792/
Misra, S., Cheng, L., Genevie, J., & Miao, Y. (2014). The iPhone Effect: The Quality of In-Person Social Interactions in the Presence of Mobile Devices.
Mozes, A. (2012, January 12). Your Smartphone May Be Stressing You Out. Retrieved from Everyday Health: http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0112/your-smartphone-may-be-stressing-you-out.aspx?xid=tw_everydayhealth_20120112_smartphone
Richter, F. (2015, July 23). America's Growing Smartphone Addiction. Retrieved from Statista: The Statistics Portal: https://www.statista.com/chart/3666/frequency-of-smartphone-usage/
Roberts, J., Pullig, C., & Manolis, C. (2015). I need my smartphone: A hierarchical model of personality and cell-phone addiction. Elsevier: Personality and Individual Differences, 13-19.
Statista. (2016). Number of smartphone users worldwide from 2014 to 2019. Retrieved from Statista: The Statistics Portal: http://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/
Tossell, C., Kortum, P., Sheppard, C., Rahmati, A., & Zhong, L. (2005). Exploring Smartphone Addiction: Insights from Long-Term Telemetric Behavioral Measures. International Journal of Information Management, 37-42.
Witters, D., & Liu, D. (2014, May). Using Mobile Technology for Work Linked to Higher Stress. Retrieved from Gallup Statistics: http://www.gallup.com/poll/168815/using-mobile-technology-work-linked-higher-stress.aspx
