Is smartphone addiction really an addiction?
By Tayana Panova, Xavier Carbonell. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2018
874 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Aims In light of the rise in research on technological addictions and smartphone addiction in particular, the aim of this paper was to review the relevant literature on the topic of smartphone addiction and determine whether this disorder exists or if it does not adequately satisfy the criteria for addiction. Methods We reviewed quantitative and qualitative studies on smartphone addiction and analyzed their methods and conclusions to make a determination on the suitability of the diagnosis “addiction” to excessive and problematic smartphone use. Results Although the majority of research in the field declares that smartphones are addictive or takes the existence of smartphone addiction as granted, we did not find sufficient support from the addiction perspective to confirm the existence of smartphone addiction at this time. The behaviors observed in the research could be better labeled as problematic or maladaptive smartphone use and their consequences do not meet the severity levels of those caused by addiction. Discussion and conclusions Addiction is a disorder with severe effects on physical and psychological health. A behavior may have a similar presentation as addiction in terms of excessive use, impulse control problems, and negative consequences, but that does not mean that it should be considered an addiction. We propose moving away from the addiction framework when studying technological behaviors and using other terms such as “problematic use” to describe them. We recommend that problematic technology use is to be studied in its sociocultural context with an increased focus on its compensatory functions, motivations, and gratifications.
Subfields: Education, Sociology and Political Science
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b4a39849753d5080a80a8c50d07171a2c0f8b349
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Citations in the corpus
- Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College (background): “To start with, because most sociological studies deal only”
- Psychological Distress, Emotion Dysregulation, and Coping Behaviour: a Theoretical Perspective of Problematic Smartphone Use (2020, background): “Findings such as these have led to the suggestion that problematic smartphone use may represent a potential behavioural addiction (Panova and Carbonell 2018; Petry et al. 2018).”
- Fear of missing out (FOMO): overview, theoretical underpinnings, and literature review on relations with severity of negative affectivity and problematic technology use (2020, background): “, a construção do uso problemático de smartphones (Problematic Smartphone Use - PSU) (alternativamente, vício em smartphones ou nomofobia) é debatida com frequência [49, 56].”
- The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology (2020, neutral): “…device, it is important to note that excessive smartphone use is not recognized as a clinical form of addiction according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) , and debate exists over whether it could be clinically characterized as such (Panova and Carbonell 2018).”
- Prevalence of problematic smartphone usage and associated mental health outcomes amongst children and young people: a systematic review, meta-analysis and GRADE of the evidence (2019, background): “Both the mainstream media and researchers have raised the possibility that people can become addicted to smartphone use, though in the academic realm, this is controversial [12].”