In the past ten years, smart phones have become an indispensable tool in our daily life.
Wake up in the morning and spend time on the WeChat moment for a while; On the way to work, spend time on the Weibo for a while; Browsing Tiktok when in the toilet of the company a while; Have lunch and watch a play for a while; If you feel sleepy in the afternoon, talk about gossip for a while; Come home in the evening and play games for a while; Browsing the WeChat moments before going to bed.
I always feel that now we are not spending time on mobile phones, but mobile phones are taking time away from us. From neck pain to addictive behavior, some negative consequences caused by excessive use of smart phones have been obvious to all.
So, does the emergence of smart phones really make our life better? Or is our life really better without smartphones?
（Ruhr-Universität Bochum，RUB）
In order to explore this problem scientifically and rigorously, psychologists at the mental health research and treatment center of Ruhr Universit ä t Bochum (rub) in Bochum, Germany, carried out an experimental intervention study. Relevant research results were published in the recent journal of experimental psychology.
Specifically, 619 people were recruited and randomly divided into three groups. 200 of them completely gave up their smartphones for a week; 226 people reduced their use of smartphones by one hour a day; 193 people keep their original smartphone habits without making any changes.
One month and four months after the intervention experiment, the researchers paid a return visit to all participants to understand their living habits and well-being. Specific questions include whether they have participated in more sports activities now? How many cigarettes do they smoke every day now? How satisfied are they with their current life? Do they show any signs of anxiety or depression?
By comparing the effects of completely quitting smartphones with reducing the time spent watching the screen every day, as well as the changes in the living conditions of participants who continue to use smartphones, the researchers found that reducing the daily use of smartphones will have a positive impact on a person’s well-being.
If you reduce the use time of smart phones by one hour every day, you can reduce anxiety and improve life satisfaction. At the same time, life satisfaction and physical activity time also increased, and symptoms of depression and anxiety and nicotine consumption decreased.
Moreover, the results also found that in order to have a better and more satisfactory life and less anxiety, it is not necessary to give up using smart phones completely.
In the long run, the one week intervention changed the participants’ use habits. Even four months after the end of the experiment, the group members who completely abstained from smartphones spent an average of 38 minutes less time using smartphones every day than before; During the experiment, the group members who reduced their smartphone use time by 1 hour a day reduced their smartphone use time by 45 minutes after four months.
Dr. Julia brailovskaia, the author of the study and the center for mental health research and treatment at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, concluded, “there is no need to completely give up smartphones and find the best time to use them every day.”
“We found that completely abandoning smartphones or reducing their use time by an hour a day had a positive impact on participants’ lifestyle and well-being.” Julia brailovskaia said, “in the reduced use group, these effects last even longer, so they are more stable than the completely abandoned group.”
On average, modern people spend more than three hours staring at the smartphone screen every day. We use mobile phones to check information, check maps, watch email or weather, shop, read news, watch movies and chat on social media.
In fact, it is a common habit for many young people to use mobile phones before going to bed or even after turning off the lights and lying down. However, this unhealthy habit may lead to late sleep, less sleep, poor sleep and increased daytime fatigue. Sleep plays an important role in emotional cognitive function. Lack of sleep, sleep restriction and sleep disorder may have a negative impact on emotional and cognitive function.
With more and more time spent on mobile phones, it seems reasonable for everyone to doubt their negative effects. Previous studies have also shown that smartphone use is associated with reduced physical activity, obesity, neck pain, impaired performance and addictive like behavior. As Julia brailovskaia said, “smart phones are both a blessing and a curse.”
The latest research shows that conscious and controllable changes in the time spent on smartphones every day can promote subjective well-being (reduce depression and anxiety symptoms, reduce the tendency to use problems, and improve life satisfaction) and a healthier lifestyle (more sports activities, less smoking behavior).
Therefore, in the long run, reducing the time of using smart phones by one hour a day can have this positive impact. Of course, there is no need to reject mobile phones completely.
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