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. 2021 Apr 1;18(7):3702.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073702.

Absence of Objective Differences between Self-Identified Addicted and Healthy Smartphone Users?

Kristoffer Geyer  1 , Xavier Carbonell  2 , Marta Beranuy  3 , Fran Calvo  4
Affiliations

Absence of Objective Differences between Self-Identified Addicted and Healthy Smartphone Users?

Kristoffer Geyer et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Smartphones are used by billions of people worldwide. However, some psychologists have argued that use of this technology is addictive, even though little research utilises objective smartphone usage records to verify this claim. We conducted an exploratory study to identify whether behavioural differences exist between those who self-identify as addicted smartphone users and those who do not. We gathered retrospective smartphone usage data from 131 Android users and asked them about their past use to compare their perception of their usage against their actual usage. We could not identify any reliable differences between the smartphone activity of those self-identified as addicted smartphone users and other users. Furthermore, smartphone scales are generally good at identifying who believes themselves to be addicted, although they do not reflect objective smartphone use. This study questions the use of self-report measures to diagnosis behavioural addictions without relevant psychopathological constructs and emphasises the need for more rigorous study to conceptualise smartphone addiction.

Keywords: CERM; behavioural addiction; self-report measures; smartphone addiction; technological addiction; university students.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have any financial, personal or organisational conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of enrolment and participation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average smartphone use in the previous five days.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Different overall app usage across types of smartphone users over the previous five days.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Different overall smartphone checks across types of smartphone users over the previous five days.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Different overall smartphone usage across types of smartphone users over the previous five days.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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