Is smartphone addiction really an addiction? | Pubmed | 5/28/22

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29895183/

2. Is smartphone addiction really an addiction?

   1. Main research question?

      1. With all the above in mind, this paper is going to consider whether smartphones can be considered addictive by analyzing the literature on the subject through the lens of addiction criteria and determining whether the concern about “smartphone addiction” is merited.

   2. Why is it important to study this?

      1. In recent years, literature on behavioral addictions has had a rise, and with this rise a lot of the addictions have evolved into smartphone addiction. The smartphone has also become an essential part of daily life, however smartphone addiction has not made it into the DSM-5 and ICD-11’s draft and still has had a rise in research. With this there seems to have been a rise in labeling popular technological behaviors as addictive. So where is the line between addiction and normal use?

   3. Hypothesis?

      1. If ____, then _____

      2. Scientific Papers:

         1. Null Hypothesis:

            1. The IV (independent variable) has NO effect on the dependent variable (DV)

         2. Alternate Hypothesis:

            1. The IV DOES HAVE an effect on the DV

      3. Null Hypothesis:

         1. Extended cell phone use has no effect on the metrics that the DSM-5 has on addiction i.e. addictions have to have significant withdrawals, substance has to dominate their thinking, there has to be severe physical consequences, etc.

      4. Alternate Hypothesis:

         1. Extended cell phone use has an effect on the metrics that the DSM-5 has on addiction i.e. addictions have to have significant withdrawals, substance has to dominate their thinking, there has to be severe physical consequences, etc.

   4. Independent variable?

      1. Extended cell phone usage

   5. Dependent variable?

      1. The Metrics used in the DSM-5

   6. Summary of Methodology?

      1. They analyzed the subjects’ sociocultural background to determine if their surroundings contributed to their smartphones. They also compared their findings to previously written literatures to find and compare the criteria for addiction.

   7. Main results:

      1. One main characteristic of an addiction is the impairment of physical health and there is no impairment caused by the smartphone. There are no more physical consequences than slight tendonitis, headaches, blurred vision, etc. Billieux et al. concluded, inferring tolerance based on the increasing use of the mobile phone is highly tentative. Although many smartphone users may agree that they think about the smartphone frequently, even when they are not using it, so much of a user’s social, professional, and personal life is mediated through the smartphone that they argue it is reasonable for the device to be at the forefront of one’s thoughts and that this does not constitute an indicator of addiction. Gradisar also concluded after a systematic review that available evidence on the existence of true addictive withdrawal in Internet gaming is very underdeveloped.If there is not a perceived severe consequence associated with failure to limit smartphone use and if there are perceived benefits of the activities on the smartphone, then this type of “loss of control" is not indicative of a “disorder”. There are no longitudinal studies to confirm stability and durability of the disorder. In behavioral and substance addictions, spontaneous remission may occur not because the disorder occurs and then spontaneously disappears but because there is no real disorder in the first place.

   8. Main interpretation of the results:

      1. Smartphone addiction is not a real thing. Since there has not been a lot of studies yet there addiction is the closest word to describe it.

   9. Summary of Conclusion:

      1. The smartphone has many quick, convenient, and private functions that may promote certain problematic behaviors and the corresponding rewards received from them that make the behaviors more frequent. This does not mean addiction, addiction is more than impulse control and excessive behavior. The media may use the word addiction to describe it, but it has to be known in academics that it is not addiction. The responsibility falls on academics to use a better word for it.