Is it necessary to throw away your smartphone in order to live your best life? Not necessarily, according to Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) experts, who believe that we could all benefit from reducing our screen time – but only somewhat.
According to estimates, the average adult spends roughly three hours every day browsing away on their smartphone. There's always something to keep our attention between social media, news feeds, countless video games, and apps for pretty much anything else. In recent years, studies have blamed smartphones for a slew of modern ills ranging from increased worry to neck strain. It begs the question: Would everyone be better off going back to flip phones and landlines?
In a university statement, study leader Dr. Julia Brailovskaia said, "The smartphone is both a blessing and a scourge."
How does smartphone use affect smoking and fitness habits?
The authors of the study set out to answer that issue by bringing together 619 participants. They divided the volunteers into three categories: 200 were urged to forgo using their smartphone entirely, 226 were told to cut their daily use by just one hour, and 193 were told to continue using their smartphone as usual.
Researchers also questioned each participant one and four months after the experimental week concluded to learn about their overall lifestyle habits and well-being. More precisely, researchers looked at how frequently participants exercised, how many cigarettes they smoked on a daily basis, how content they were with their life, and whether they were depressed or nervous.
How content with their lives did they feel? Were there any indicators of anxiousness or depression?
"We discovered that both completely giving up the smartphone and reducing its daily use by one hour had positive effects on the participants' lifestyle and well-being," Julia Brailovskaia summarizes the findings.
"In the group who reduced use, these effects even lasted longer and were thus more stable than in the abstinence group."
It is not required to do entirely without.
The one-week intervention had a long-term impact on the participants' usage habits: even four months after the experiment ended, the abstinence group used their smartphones 38 minutes less per day than previously. The group that spent one hour less per day with the smartphone throughout the experiment used it for up to 45 minutes less per day after four months. At the same time, life satisfaction and physical activity levels increased. Depression and anxiety symptoms decreased, as did nicotine intake. "It's not necessary to completely give up the smartphone to feel better," Brailovskaia says. "There may be an optimal daily usage time."
"We discovered that both entirely abandoning the smartphone and decreasing its daily use by one hour had positive benefits on the participants' lifestyle and well-being," Dr. Brailovskaia explains. "These benefits lasted even longer and were consequently more stable in the group that lowered use than in the group that abstained."
Notably, modifying their smartphone usage for just one week appeared to have long-term effects on individuals. Even four months later, participants allocated to the abstinence group were using their phones for 38 minutes fewer each day on average.
Meanwhile, after four months, the "one hour less" group was using their phones up to 45 minutes fewer every day. This group also reported higher levels of life satisfaction, greater exercise, and lower levels of sadness, anxiety, and nicotine usage.
"It's not necessary to give up your smartphone entirely to feel better," Dr. Brailovskaia says. "Perhaps there is an optimal daily usage time."
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied.
