Longitudinal Associations Among Psychological Issues and Problematic Use of Smartphones

Abstract

Abstract. One of the critical limitations of previous research on the association between problematic use of media and psychological factors is that the proposed causality between them is mostly based on cross-sectional data. Responding to this limitation, the present study investigated longitudinal causality associations among loneliness, problematic use of smartphones, face-to-face interaction, smartphone-mediated communication, and need for social assurance with cross-lagged panel models. The results suggest that loneliness leads to problematic use of smartphones, which reduces face-to-face interaction while increasing need for social assurance. However, need for social assurance fueled by excessive smartphone use is usually not gratified, and eventually leads to greater loneliness.

Mobile Phone Use and Mental Health. A Review of the Research That Takes a Psychological Perspective on Exposure

“…A massive majority of the retrieved studies had cross-sectional design. Only 14 studies, i.e., about 5% [26,65,95,123,132,144,148,156,184,249,268,269,274,286], were identified as having any form of longitudinal design, test-retest reliability studies excepted.…”

“…Regarding psychological factors, several cross-sectional studies found associations between problematic mobile phone use and loneliness [24,91,98,129,133,158,270,279]. A longitudinal study with 288 participants 13–40 years of age examined causal relations between problematic use, loneliness, face-to-face-interaction, and the need for social assurance [132]. It found that loneliness predicted problematic use, while problematic use did not predict loneliness at the follow-up after four months.…”

“…It found that loneliness predicted problematic use, while problematic use did not predict loneliness at the follow-up after four months. However, the authors concluded that loneliness increases problematic use, which in turn reduces face-to-face interactions and thus does not gratify increased needs for social assurance, and consequently, this process eventually leads to increased loneliness [132]. Other studies found associations with, e.g., shyness or social anxiousness [24,58,91,102,159], extraversion [12,13,18,25,46,64,81,108,255,256,261], fear of missing out [52,74,153,209,287], neuroticism [13,46,73,81,90,111,142,147,198,218,261,294], less self-esteem [13,25,100,108,256,281,289,291], low agreeableness [12,147], less openness [12,111,147,218,261], less conscientiousness [13,34,92,111,142,147,169,170], alexithymia [89], and less self-efficacy [99].…”

Excessive Smartphone Use Is Associated With Health Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Poor communication skills were shown in Medical students who preferred to communicate emotions through texting rather than verbal communication (25) and they correlated with excessive smartphone use (26). Excessive use of the smartphone has negative impacts on people's lives by reducing face-to-face interactions, and increasing loneliness (27).…”

Longitudinal Effects of Excessive Smartphone Use on Stress and Loneliness: The Moderating Role of Self-Disclosure

“…10,[31][32][33] Although the only longitudinal study thus far found no evidence for an increase of loneliness, 34 the author argued that excessive use leads users to put less effort to build meaningful relationships, which might ultimately increase loneliness. 34 Moreover, a recent longitudinal study found that heavy Facebook use resulted in higher loneliness, while low to moderate levels of Facebook use even decreased loneliness. 35 We assumed that using the smartphone excessively might have detrimental consequences for (faceto-face) communication with close ties and therefore increase loneliness.…”