IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i12p7445-d841396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Problematic Smartphone Use Leads to Behavioral and Cognitive Self-Control Deficits

Author

Listed:
  • Rosa Angela Fabio

    (Department of Economy, University of Messina, 98121 Messina, Italy)

  • Alessia Stracuzzi

    (Department of Economy, University of Messina, 98121 Messina, Italy)

  • Riccardo Lo Faro

    (Department of Economy, University of Messina, 98121 Messina, Italy)

Abstract

Excessive use of smartphones has been associated with a number of negative consequences for individuals. Some of these consequences relate to many symptoms of behavioral addiction. The present study aims to investigate whether participants with high levels of smartphone usage may have difficulty with their ability to wield the self-control that is needed to restrict smartphone usage compared to participants with lower levels of smartphone addiction. Specifically, we expect that people with high levels of smartphone usage may have problems in refraining from using a smartphone. In addition, we expect people with a high level of smartphone use may show deficiencies in cognitive tasks such as memory, executive control, and visual and auditory attention. An ABA design was applied to analyze the effects of smartphone withdrawal. The first A refers to baseline measurements: Visual RT, Auditory RT, Go/No-Go RT and N-Back RT and Eriksen flanker RT. The B refers to 3 days of smartphone withdrawal, whereas the second A refers to the same measurements used in the baseline. In addition, several standardized scales were administered, among them: Smartphone addiction scale-short version (SAS-SV), Fear of missing out scale (FoMOs), Procrastination scale, and Psychological General Well-Being Index. One hundred and eleven participants took part in the study. Based on median split they were divided into two groups: high level and low level smartphone users. Moreover, thanks to an app installed on the participants’ smartphones, it was possible to measure levels of compliance with the task. Results indicate that participants with low levels of smartphone usage show less difficulty in their ability to wield the self-control needed to withdraw smartphone use and faster reaction times on cognitive tests than participants with high levels of smartphone usage. Moreover, the profile of participants with high levels of smartphone usage shows higher scores on the FoMOs and Procrastination scale, and lower scores in the Psychological General Well-Being Index. The results are discussed in light of self-regulation theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosa Angela Fabio & Alessia Stracuzzi & Riccardo Lo Faro, 2022. "Problematic Smartphone Use Leads to Behavioral and Cognitive Self-Control Deficits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7445-:d:841396
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7445/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7445/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosa Angela Fabio & Rossella Suriano, 2021. "The Influence of Media Exposure on Anxiety and Working Memory during Lockdown Period in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, September.
    2. Mohammad Saud Alotaibi & Mim Fox & Robyn Coman & Zubair Ahmed Ratan & Hassan Hosseinzadeh, 2022. "Perspectives and Experiences of Smartphone Overuse among University Students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Hongyu Zou & Yuting Deng & Huahua Wang & Chengfu Yu & Wei Zhang, 2022. "Perceptions of School Climate and Internet Gaming Addiction among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Effect of Deviant Peer Affiliation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-8, March.
    4. Denis Demin & Liliya Poskotinova, 2022. "Neurophysiologic Reactions during Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Session in Adolescents with Different Risk of Internet Addiction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-9, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elnur Rustamov & Tunzala Musayeva & Xalida Xalilova & Gultekin Ismayilova & Ulviyya Nahmatova, 2023. "Association between Self-Esteem and Smartphone Addiction: The Mediating Role of Self-Control," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 46(1), pages 256-267, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosa Angela Fabio & Massimo Ingrassia & Marco Massa, 2021. "Transient and Long-Term Improvements in Cognitive Processes following Video Games: An Italian Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. László Árpád Kostyál & Zsuzsa Széman & Virág Erzsébet Almási & Paolo Fabbietti & Sabrina Quattrini & Marco Socci & Cristina Gagliardi, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Health and Experience of the Carers of Older Family Members Living with Dementia: An Italian–Hungarian Comparative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-29, April.
    3. Himanshu Grover, 2023. "Public risk perception of covid-19 transmission and support for compact development," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Hanaa Faize A. Moubarak & Asyraf Afthanorhan, 2024. "Risk assessments of virtual interactions on Saudi families," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7445-:d:841396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.