A study conducted in Germany suggests that the reduction in the use of the smartphone produces more long -term beneficial effects than a more radical temporary weaning.
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A single glance around you is enough to see it. Smartphones have become our doubles, to learn, communicate, play, etc. Worldwide, more than 3.5 billion people have one, and their average time facing this screen (more than 3 hours a day) has continued to increase. Even if the intensification of this use is not considered by the World Health Organization as an addiction that is a pathology, its negative effects are more and more scientifically documented: from the evil to the consequences on the Sleep, from anxiety to depression. Is there a solution to be less addicted?
To find out, a team of psychology researchers from the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center at the University of Bochum (Germany) has launched unprecedented experience: recruiting hundreds of volunteers and asking them either Remember a whole week of smartphone, that is, on the same period of time, to reduce their consumption by one hour a day. This is to observe the impact on their well-being four months later. “We were surprised by the large number of volunteers, 619, who answered our call. More and more people think that their attitude towards the smartphone is a problem for their health,” comments Julia Brailovskaia, senior researcher in psychology clinical. “Participate in our study could have been perceived as a boost to start doing something.”
fewer depressive symptoms
The results, published in the study “Find the” ideal point “of the use of smartphones: reduction or abstinence to increase well-being and a healthy lifestyle!” (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, April 7), are promising, the researchers believe. Thus, out of the three groups, made up of 200 volunteers each, those having abstained (group A) and those having self -regulated (group B) ultimately, and four months after experience, a less intense use of their Smartphones that the third group – called “control” – which has not changed anything. A and B say they know fewer depressive and anxious symptoms and feel greater satisfaction of living. They also do more physical exercise.