Nia Rivers
Almost all of us have one; and most
of us will probably have it on our person or near us as we read this right now.
A smartphone. A device that allows us productivity enhancement as well as giving
us the ability to obtain information in a matter of seconds. The introduction
of the iPhone to global markets back in 2007 changed the mobile industry and on
top of entertainment and diversions it allows us social information and the
ability to stay connected worldwide. Despite the many uses and advantages of
smartphones, there are disadvantages that come with it as well. A study by Jon
D. Elhai highlight the relationship that problematic smartphone use can have
with anxiety and depression. Problematic smartphone use can develop through the
tendency of notifications and alerts to serve as cues for automatic checking
behaviors. These habits serve as a gateway to increased, potentially
problematic smartphone use through things like trying to obtain social
reassurance, “Fear of missing out” (FoMO), extraversion as well as impulsivity.
Most prominent psychological models
of addiction argue that compulsory use comes out of a process of positive
and/or negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement models of addiction use
an incentive sensitization theory which posits that addiction initially
develops as a process of mood enhancement. In the beginning an individual
enjoys and then eventually craves the positive aspects of the compulsory
behavior like notification checking. Pavlovian learning, or classical
conditioning refers to a learning procedure in which a stimulus is paired with
a previously neutral stimulus. This study was done by Ivan Pavlov who used the
stimulus of food, and the neutral stimulus of a bell, so that after a period of
conditioning when the bell rung the dogs would salivate without the stimulus of
food. In early stages problem cellphone use displays Pavlovian learning; having
individuals attuned to small cues that signal a reward but eventually produces
a disconnect between “like” and “wanting” engagement in the behavior. As the
behavior becomes more compulsory, the individual begins to experience negative
mood when not engaging in the behavior, a kind of withdrawal. Problematic
smartphone use can be seen as craving positive emotion to alleviate negative
emotion through a.) habitual use and checking behaviors; b.) seeing excessive
reassurance and c.) reluctance to miss important information or content.
Elhai and his fellow peers conducted
a systematic review of publications from 2008 until 2015 that examined clinical
disorders and their relationship with smartphone use that are incorporated in
DSM-5, which is the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition that is used by the American
Psychiatric Association as a diagnostic tool for psychiatric diagnoses. Their
general findings suggest that problematic
as well as general smartphone use
commonly co-occur with things like depression, anxiety and stress. Depression severity
had a consistent, significant link with smartphone addiction and based on
effect size convention had at least medium effect sizes when involving on two
variables, though they were slightly lower on average when statistically
controlling them for other variables. Anxiety severity was also consistently,
significantly associated with problem smartphone use, with small effect sizes.
Stress was fairly consistent, while self-esteem was not consistently associated
with problem use.
But there is the other side of this
coin. Placed within a larger context of technological relations and the
internet there is also evidence that psychopathology, such as depression or
anxiety, can be the cause of a technological addiction. Chronically stressed
individuals are found to use online video gaming as a coping mechanism to
relieve stress, and furthermore some depressed individuals use their mobile
phones as a coping method to deal with negative emotions.
With these two arguments at play
there is a third. Other evidence suggests a relationship that can go in two
directions; where problem smartphone use drives mental illness, and mental
illness drives problematic smartphone use. Further research will continue to be
done on this subject, seeing as smartphones don’t look like they are going out
of style anytime soon.
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