Spending Long Time on Your Phone Isn't Bad for Mental Health

General smartphone usage is considered a poor predictor of depression, anxiety, or stress, say researchers who suggest caution when it comes to digital detoxes. The findings of the study are published in the journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior.// The study measured the time spent on smartphones by 199 iPhone users and 46 Android users for 1 week. Volunteers were also asked about their mental and physical health, completing clinical scales that include anxiety and depression symptoms. They also developed a scale which measured how problematic they saw their smartphone usage to be.

Surprisingly, the amount of time spent on your smartphone was not linked to poor mental health.

Lead author Heather Shaw: "A person's daily smartphone pickups or screen time did not predict depression, anxiety, or stress symptoms. Additionally, those who excelled clinical 'cut off points' for both general anxiety and major depressive disorder did not use their phone over those who scored below this threshold."

Instead, the research found that mental health was linked to concerns and worries felt by volunteers about their own smartphone usage.

This was estimated through their scores on a problematic usage scale where they were required to rate statements like "Using my phone longer than I had intended," "Having tried time and again to lessen my smartphone use time but failing all the time."

Heather Shaw said: "It is necessary to consider actual device use independently from people's concerns and worries about technology. This is because the former doesn't reveal noteworthy relationships with mental health, whereby the latter does."



Source-Medindia