Is your cell phone good for your health?

Reviewed by Kate Anderton, B.Sc. (Editor)Sep 9 2019

Many studies have examined the health effects of smartphone abuse, but a new study looks at the sociodemographic features and health indicators of people who have a smartphone but do not use it regularly.

This under-studied group of individuals were significantly more likely to report feelings of loneliness, according to the article published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website through October 9, 2019.

Eduardo Pedrero-Pérez and colleagues from Madrid Salud (Spain) coauthored the article entitled "Smartphone Nonusers: Associated Sociodemographic and Health Variables." The researchers conducted a random sampling of people living in a large city ages 15-65 who own a smartphone and identified those who do not use their smartphone regularly. In comparing the two groups, they found the non-users more likely to be male, older, have a lower educational level, and belong to an underprivileged social class. In addition, the non-users showed worse mental health indicators, and a lower perceived quality of life relating to their health

"Population health research can help us to discover how technology use patterns may contribute to mental and physical health difficulties as well as provide protective factors for large groups of individuals," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

Paper concludes

The data from this study suggest that the group of people who have a mobile phone but do not use it represent an interest group that has not been sufficiently studied to date. Almost all studies mentioned were performed with samples of adolescents or university students, whereas this study explored a sample with a wider age range and neither young people nor those with university studies seem to consistently share the characteristics found. The impact of the technological revolution involved with the rise of smartphones is not limited to childhood, adolescence, or early youth but rather reaches all people. The changes that have occurred in the world of communication among humans affect not only digital natives but have also caused the relational world to turn upside down (and the intellectual, occupational, and cultural worlds) among those who had developed stable and adaptive codes before the availability of this device. More studies are required to explore hypotheses such as those deriving from this study in all age groups and all social strata, in urban and rural settings and, in general, in the way people have modified their relational behavior in this new high-tech world.

About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.