By: Everyday Health
Date: April 4, 2018
Are smartphones making us feel bad? New research has found that compared with university students who used their phones the least, students who used their phones the most reported higher levels of isolation, loneliness, depression, and anxiety.
In a survey published online last week in the journal NeuroRegulation, Erik Peper, PhD, and Richard Harvey, PhD, researchers at San Francisco State University’s Institute for Holistic Healing Studies, presented results of several surveys they have conducted with their students on how they use technology. More research is needed; this was a small study, with just of 135 students who self-reported, but Dr. Peper says the results concern him greatly.
Symptoms of digital addiction such as increased loneliness (also known as “phoneliness”), anxiety, and depression were observed in a sample of university undergraduates who completed a survey about smartphone use during and outside of class.