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Does Smartphone Addiction Fall on a Continuum of Addictive Behaviors?

Author

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  • Sheila Yu

    (Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St., Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA)

  • Steve Sussman

    (Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St., Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
    Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3620 South McClintock Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA)

Abstract

Due to the high accessibility and mobility of smartphones, widespread and pervasive smartphone use has become the social norm, exposing users to various health and other risk factors. There is, however, a debate on whether addiction to smartphone use is a valid behavioral addiction that is distinct from similar conditions, such as Internet and gaming addiction. The goal of this review is to gather and integrate up-to-date research on measures of smartphone addiction (SA) and problematic smartphone use (PSU) to better understand (a) if they are distinct from other addictions that merely use the smartphone as a medium, and (b) how the disorder(s) may fall on a continuum of addictive behaviors that at some point could be considered an addiction. A systematic literature search adapted from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was conducted to find all relevant articles on SA and PSU published between 2017 and 2019. A total of 108 articles were included in the current review. Most studies neither distinguished SA from other technological addictions nor clarified whether SA was an addiction to the actual smartphone device or to the features that the device offers. Most studies also did not directly base their research on a theory to explain the etiologic origins or causal pathways of SA and its associations. Suggestions are made regarding how to address SA as an emerging behavioral addiction.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheila Yu & Steve Sussman, 2020. "Does Smartphone Addiction Fall on a Continuum of Addictive Behaviors?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:422-:d:306448
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Siti Rubiaehtul Hassim & Wan Nor Arifin & Yee Cheng Kueh & Nor Azwany Yaacob, 2020. "Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Malay Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale among Medical Students in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-10, May.
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    7. Olatz Lopez-Fernandez, 2021. "Emerging Health and Education Issues Related to Internet Technologies and Addictive Problems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Mohammad Saud Alotaibi & Mim Fox & Robyn Coman & Zubair Ahmed Ratan & Hassan Hosseinzadeh, 2022. "Smartphone Addiction Prevalence and Its Association on Academic Performance, Physical Health, and Mental Well-Being among University Students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-17, March.
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