As many of my readers know, I don’t allow the use of technology in my classrooms. This includes smartphones, tablets, computers … whatever. Instead, I encourage them to listen to me and to their fellow students as we digest important concepts. I suspect that electronics usage is ultimately tied to lower grades, not higher ones.
Well, in a new survey of 3,425 university students, one in five respondents said they engaged in problematic smartphone use which in turn was tied to lower grades, mental health problems and a higher number of sexual partners.
Previous research has linked excessive smartphone use to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and problems with self-esteem.
In the new study, published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, a research team from the University of Chicago, University of Cambridge, and the University of Minnesota developed the Health and Addictive Behaviors Survey to assess mental health and well-being in a large sample of university students.
The researchers used the survey to analyze the impact of smartphone use on university students. Just over a third (3,425) of students invited to take the test responded.
The self-reporting survey consisted of 156 questions. Based on their responses, the students were given a score ranging from 10 to 60, with a score of 32 and above being defined as problematic smartphone use. This definition was based on a threshold recommended previously in clinical validation studies using the scale.
The researchers found that one in five (20%) of respondents reported problematic smartphone use. Problematic use was also more prevalent among female students: 64% of all problematic users were women.
Problematic smartphone use may include the following: excessive use; trouble concentrating in class or at work due to smartphone use; feeling fretful or impatient without their smartphone; missing work due to smartphone use; and experiencing physical consequences of excessive use, such as light-headedness or blurred vision.
Importantly, the researchers found a link between problematic smartphone use and lower grade point averages (academic achievement).
“Although the effect of problematic smartphone use on grade point averages was relatively small, it’s worth noting that even a small negative impact could have a profound effect on an individual’s academic achievement and then on their employment opportunities in later life,” said Professor Jon Grant from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago.
While students reporting problematic smartphone use were more likely to be less sexually active than their peers (70.9% compared to 74%), the proportion of students reporting two or more sexual partners in the past 12 months was significantly higher among problem users: 37.4% of sexually active problematic smartphone users compared with 27.2% sexually-active students who reported no problem use.
The prevalence of six or more sexual partners was more than double among sexually active problematic smartphone users (6.8% compared to 3.0%).
“Smartphones can help connect people and help people feel less isolated, and our findings suggest that they may act as an avenue for sexual contact, whether through sustained partnerships or more casual sex,” said Dr. Sam Chamberlain, Welcome Trust Clinical Fellow.
In addition, alcohol misuse was much higher in those with problematic smartphone use compared to the control group. No significant link was found between phone use and any other form of substance abuse or addiction, however.
In terms of other mental health problems, the researchers found that problematic smartphone use was significantly associated with lower self-esteem, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, mirroring similar findings elsewhere.
“It’s easy to think of problematic smartphone use as an addiction, but if it was that simple, we would expect it to be associated with a wide range of substance misuse problems, especially in such a large sample, but this does not seem to be the case,” said Chamberlain.
“One possible explanation for these results is that people develop excessive smartphone use because of other mental health difficulties. For example, people who are socially isolated, those who experience depression or anxiety, or those who have attention problems (as in ADHD) may be more prone to excessive smartphone use, as well as to using alcohol.”
“Smartphone use likely develops earlier in life — on average — than alcohol use problems and so, it is unlikely that alcohol use itself leads to smartphone use.”
The study does not establish cause and effect. In other words, the researchers cannot say that problematic smartphone use leads to mental health issues or vice versa.
In addition, the team points out that the effect sizes were generally small, and that more research is needed into positive and negative effects of smartphone use and mental health, including how this might change over time.
Source: University of Cambridge
Joe, it’s not that we couldn’t see this coming. We were in college when the first home computers became available- Apple, TRS and Commodore if I remember correctly. They were touted as the gateway for information and efficiency in our lives. We observed it develop beyond a hobby for many. There have always been places of solace for humans in leisure – private time. We all knew a philatelic, home wood shop aficionados ….
My sense this began took a turn when instant connectivity and tools to manage more data (a good thing in my view) grew in capability to more easily find information and communicate frequently with people we knew or had connectivity with. Another good thing – it allowed me to stay in touch with family and friends via email etc as my work transferred us across the country nine times and to speak to or email my mother as ALS closed in on my wonderful mother. But what transformed next surprised me. Substitution of meaningful contact with humans who had a real presence in people’s lives was being displaced. Really, a 15 year old sitting in a room by his or herself gaming with a total stranger for hours on end is friendship? Technology ENABLES wonderful things to occur, making our lives safer and more efficient. It doesn’t replace our needs to be with other humans. I was stunned years ago when a “young person” explained to me no one called up friends and arranged to meet for a movie, a beverage, etc. They relied on their phone app to let each other know where they were and an almost random convergence occurred. Even “dating” became less focused on the two souls and more on group convergence. Jump to the business environment. I am aware of situations where executives whose offices are within feet of each other and rather than walk over to pop in on an issue they email… This isn’t just a young person’s phenomenon. I actually had to instruct my global team of about 100 persons to pick up the phone. They complained they didn’t know or understand the important intricacies of each other’s work and 90% of their contact was an email or text… Even they missed why this team breakdown was occurring.
Btw, I have caught myself falling into the trap of supplanting real contact instead of making technology work for me. It may be easier to text or email happy birthday to my brother or sister or ask how a friends surgery went (yep, at that age). I asked myself, if I really care, do I want to hear their voice? My brother/sister and I often email or text something – but we also make sure we telephone each other a couple times a week or even everyday. Just wish I could hear my mom and dad’s voices again…
You are my role model for staying in touch via phone. I was always afraid to return the favor – you being the big shot and all over the world, I never wanted to call at the wrong time. And I remember one call in particular: I was in a small village in England somewhere, on a business trip, thoroughly bored with the business conversation, when my phone rang and it was you. I recall going out to the curb to sit and chat. Meant the world to me!