SIP paediatricians warn of smartphone addiction risks in teens: sleep loss, anxiety, pain, and warning signs to watch for.

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Spending extra time on the toilet scrolling through a smartphone may carry unintended health consequences.

A Harvard Medical School study found that adjusted US traffic fatalities were about 15 percent higher on the release days of major music albums between 2017 and 2022, BR reported. The researchers linked the figures to a possible increase in smartphone music streaming and driver distraction, but s…

Health experts in the UK are examining a potential link between heavy smartphone and tablet use and a rise in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a painful condition affecting an estimated 340,000 people nationwide. CTS occurs when tissue inside the wrist swells and compresses a major nerve, leading to symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and difficulty gripping objects. Reports suggest cases may have increased by around 25 per cent over recent decades, prompting concern among medical specialists. According to Professor Adam Taylor, an anatomy expert, the way people hold mobile phones may place unnatural strain on wrist tendons, potentially increasing risk, particularly when usage exceeds four hours a day. Some studies have indicated that frequent texting may quadruple the likelihood of developing CTS, while using a phone with both hands may increase risk even further. However, experts stress that mobile devices are not the only contributing factor. Obesity, diabetes, previous wrist injuries, and occupational strain are also significant risk factors. CTS is most commonly diagnosed in adults aged 40 to 65, with women reportedly three times more likely to be affected due to anatomical and hormonal factors. Treatment options vary depending on severity and include lifestyle adjustments, wrist splints—particularly at night—physiotherapy exercises, steroid injections, and, in more advanced cases, surgery. Specialists also advise simple changes in phone-handling posture to reduce strain. If symptoms persist, worsen, or interfere with daily life, medical assessment is recommended to prevent potential long-term nerve damage.

Discover how bedtime smartphone use impacts your sleep quality and get expert-backed tips to reclaim restful nights and boost your well-being.

Background: Smartphones have become deeply embedded in daily life, supporting a range of social and practical activities. Individuals with dementia can potentially use smartphones to compensate for cognitive decline and maintain independence. However, while smartphones are widely studied in controlled research settings, little is known about how individuals with dementia spontaneously use them in everyday life. Understanding usage patterns and their potential link to social participation could inform strategies to support smartphone use in their social and practical daily activities. Objective: This study aimed to identify factors associated with spontaneous smartphone use, describe usage patterns, and examine whether smartphone use is associated with participation in social activities. Methods: In 2024, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among community-dwelling individuals with mild to moderate dementia from 17 medical facilities in Tokyo. Structured questionnaires were completed by the participants, their families, and attending physicians. Participation in social activities was assessed using the “Spending Time with Others” subscale of the Social Functioning in Dementia (SF-DEM) scale. Factors associated with smartphone use were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Associations with participation in social activities were assessed via hierarchical linear regression. Results: Among 151 participants with a mean age of 82.9 (SD 6.6) years, 43 (29%) participants were regular smartphone users. Smartphone use was negatively associated with older age (odds ratio [OR] 0.41, 95% CI 0.21‐0.80) and positively associated with longer education (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.00‐3.30), living alone (OR 3.17, 95% CI 1.08‐9.31), and better cognitive function (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.24‐3.69). Common uses included calling, texting, taking photos and videos, and checking the news and weather. Smartphone users reported marginally more frequent participation in social activities than nonusers did (b=1.41, 95% CI –0.01 to 2.83), particularly visiting the homes of friends or family (b=0.43, 95% CI 0.08‐0.78) and shopping together (b=0.49, 95% CI 0.15‐0.83). Conclusions: Despite their limited use at the time of this writing, commercial-based smartphones have the potential to support participation in social activities among individuals with dementia. Targeted support may help bridge the gap between this usage and the broader capabilities of these devices, enhancing their role in sustaining meaningful social participation.

Background: The ubiquitous use of smartphones has given rise to maladaptive patterns of use, often termed “problematic smartphone use” (PSU), which disproportionately impacts children and young people and is associated with poor #MentalHealth. Emerging evidence suggests that patterns of smartphone use (eg, PSU and high smartphone screen time) may also influence eating patterns and contribute to symptoms associated with eating disorders (ED), although the nature of this relationship remains poorly understood. Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to examine the association between PSU and ED psychopathology or ED-related outcomes (eg, body dissatisfaction, emotional eating, and food addiction) in clinical and nonclinical populations and explore potential moderators and mediators. Methods: This preregistered systematic review conducted according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines searched 3 databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) for studies published after January 2011 reporting data on PSU and ED psychopathology. Results: Thirty-five studies met the prespecified eligibility criteria, with almost all reporting cross-sectional data in nonclinical populations (n=52,584; mean age 17.0, SD 5.5 years). Most studies were assessed as being of good quality (n=28, 78%) according to a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. In these nonclinical samples, the vast majority of studies reported a positive association between PSU and ED psychopathology, which was largely consistent across age groups and countries. Identified mediators of this relationship included greater emotional regulation difficulties and anxious and #depressive symptoms. Positive associations were also found across studies between PSU and several ED-related outcomes including food addiction, body dissatisfaction, uncontrolled eating, and emotional overeating. Daily smartphone screen time was consistently related to higher ED psychopathology. According to a GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) assessment of the evidence, most outcomes were rated as low certainty, largely due to the cross-sectional nature of evidence, which contributed to a high risk of bias. Conclusions: PSU and greater daily smartphone screen time are associated with higher ED symptoms, body image dissatisfaction, and broader disordered eating behaviors. Due to a paucity of studies in clinical populations, these conclusions are generalizable only to nonclinical populations (ie, those without a formal diagnosis of an ED). Further longitudinal research in clinical populations is needed to fully contextualize the impact of PSU and smartphone screen time on ED risk and severity.

Background: #Digital well-being encourages balanced mobile use. The Perceived #Digital Well-Being in Adolescence Scale (PDWBA) scale measures this in adolescents but was validated only in Slovenia, raising questions about its relevance for other age groups and cultural contexts. Objective: This study had three primary objectives: (1) to confirm the three-factor structure of an English version of the PDWBA—renamed the Perceived #Digital Well-being Scale (PDWS)—in samples of young adults from the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK; (2) to examine the associations between PDWS dimensions and participants’ sociodemographic characteristics; and (3) to explore the relationships between PDWS scores and patterns of smartphone use. Methods: A total of 1,854 young adults from the USA and the UK (ages 18–25; M = 22.4, SD = 2.1); 892(48.1 %) female, 872(47.0 %) male, 90(4.9 %) non-binary participated in an online survey including the PDWS, #Digital flourishing and #Digital stress measures. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, correlations, t-tests, chi-squared tests, and moderation-mediation analysis. Results: The smartphone screen time use and the smartphone time use for non-essential activities was statistically higher in the USA sample than in UK sample (M = 6.95 vs M = 6.13, t = 4.97, P

Background: The impact of smartphone use on #MentalHealth is being rigorously debated. Some questionnaire-based research suggests that smartphone use correlates with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), self-reported data seem unlikely to capture actual smartphone use precisely, requiring objective measures to advance this field. Objective: To examine whether objectively measured smartphone use was associated with NSSI among college students. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted from 2022 to 2024, enrolling college students from 559 classes across six universities in China. NSSI was measured by the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory (OSI) including 10 items of NSSI without suicidal intent within the past month. Participants answering “ever” were classified as having NSSI. Objectively measured smartphone screen time and number of smartphone unlocks were obtained from screenshots of smartphone use records. The association between objectively measured smartphone use and NSSI was analyzed using binary logistic regression models and restricted cubic splines (RCS) regression. Results: Of 16 668 included participants, 627 (3.8%) reported NSSI. Mean (SD) smartphone screen time and number of smartphone unlocks were 48.8 (28.8) hours/week and 271.6 (291.0) times/week. The models adjusted for different factors showed significant association between smartphone use and NSSI. Compared to participants with 0~21 hours/week of smartphone screen time, those with ≥63 hours/week of smartphone screen time had a higher odds of NSSI (OR=1.63; 95% CI, 1.32-2.01). Likewise, compared to participants with 0~50 times/week of smartphone unlocks, those with ≥400 times/week of smartphone unlocks had a higher odd of NSSI (OR=1.53; 95% CI, 1.25-1.88). No significant NSSI risk increases was observed for participants with 21~42 hours/week and 42~63 hours/week of smartphone screen time, nor for those with 50~150 times/week and 150~400 times/week of smartphone unlocks. Moreover, RCS analyses showed that the increasing risk of NSSI was associated with elevated smartphone screen time and number of smartphone unlocks. Conclusions: These findings emphasize that ≥63 hours/week of smartphone screen time and ≥400 times/week of smartphone unlocks are risk factors for NSSI among college students, and interventions targeting NSSI should consider the #Apparent association with smartphone use.

Background: Contrary to popular concerns about the harmful effects of media use on mental health, research on this relationship is ambiguous, stalling advances in theory, interventions, and policy. Scientific explorations of the relationship between media…

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Japanese Town Proposes Two-Hour Daily Smartphone Limit for All ResidentsIn a move that has ignited national debate and drawn international...

First study of its kind finds that restrictive school policies don’t lead to lower phone and social media use overall, nor better outcomes among students

While that message has been spread on social media, researchers are just beginning to understand how the devices affect the mind