Cell Phone Addiction in Adolescents: A Narrative Review

Abstract

The papers reviewed here, approximately a third used the term smartphone addiction another third referred to it as mobile phone addiction and the most recent papers labeled it cell phone addiction. This variety of terms reflects the diversity of studies across multiple countries, the relative lack of consensus about how to define cell phone addiction and the use of six different scales that have been developed or adapted as abbreviated scales or as culturally relevant measures. The Oxford English dictionary definition of addiction is a "condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity". Medically it is a "chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences and long-lasting changes in the brain".Like internet addiction, the prevalence of cell phone addiction has widely varied (2-89%) depending on the scale used and the location of the research (Table 1). And, in some countries, smart phones are continuously connected to the internet (for example, 89% time in a sample of Turkish tenth grade students) (N=609) [1].

COVID-19 Lockdown Stressors and Buffers: A Narrative Review

“…These data were inconsistent with pre-COVID literature which suggested that texting was only associated with negative effects including greater anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances [57][58][59][60]. These inconsistent data may relate to the previous literature being based on excessive use of texting, while only 45% of this COVID-19 sample claimed to be texting "a lot" [59,60].…”

COVID-19 Lockdown Stressors and Buffers: A Narrative Review

“…The positive effects of texting included engaging in more health-related activities like exercising with someone else, self-touch, and self-care, as well as connecting with friends, and engaging in more housekeeping. These data were inconsistent with pre-COVID literature which suggested that texting was only associated with negative effects including greater anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances [57][58][59][60]. These inconsistent data may relate to the previous literature being based on excessive use of texting, while only 45% of this COVID-19 sample claimed to be texting "a lot" [59,60].…”

Depressive symptomatology is associated with problematic smartphone use severity in adolescents: The mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies

“…With regard to internet and smartphone use, these changes influence adolescents' preference for fast, complex, humor-based, and risky content and a need to stay connected to peers to develop their identities, learn about intimacy and sexuality, and search for autonomy (Valkenburg & Piotrowski, 2017). Consequently, studies that have compared different age groups have found that adolescents and youth are at increased risk for PSU (Csibi et al, 2021;Kuss et al, 2018), showing prevalence rates between 10% and 30% (Field, 2020;Sohn et al, 2019). Finally, Liu et al (2022) found that symptoms of problematic internet use, which is closely related to PSU, differ depending on the stage of adolescence: An early stage is characterized by the need to increase usage time to achieve previous level of satisfaction and the experience of an empty life; a middle stage is differentiated by less sleep, failure to stop, and feeling depressed; and in a late stage the latter is considered the core symptom.…”