A new study finds that intentional time away from your phone comes with several mental health benefits
While there have been several studies that have looked at the mental health impact of social media, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin explored the effects of general smartphone use on mental health.
According to their findings, a two-week break from the internet on your phone could improve mental health, subjective well-being, and attention span.
Smartphones have drastically changed our lives and behaviors over the past 15 years, but our basic human psychology remains the same, researcher Adrian Ward said in a news release.
Our big question was, are we adapted to deal with constant connection to everything all the time? The data suggest that we are not.
The study
The researchers had nearly 500 participants involved in the four-week study. They were instructed to download an app on their phones that blocked everything except text messages and calls. That meant no social media, no internet browsers, and no internet access. However, outside of the study, they were able to access the internet as they pleased.
For the study, one group had the internet blocked on their phones for the first two weeks of the study, while a second group had the app installed on their phones for the second two weeks.
The participants completed psychological assessments at several points throughout the month-long study, and they also completed their own self-assessments to report on their mental health outcomes.
Improving mental health outcomes
Overall, the study showed that taking breaks from constant internet access is likely to yield better mental health outcomes.
At the end of the study, over 70% of the participants reported better mental health overall compared to the beginning of the study. When looking at the three primary measures of the study mental health, attention span, and well-being, over 90% of the participants reported an improvement in at least one area.
Its also important to note that many of the participants reported feeling better with each day of the study. This means that the longer they went without constant internet access, the better they believed their mental health was.
[Participants] increased time spent in the offline world, Ward said. Thats doing hobbies, talking to people face-to-face, or going out in nature. They got more sleep, felt more socially connected, and felt more in control of their own decisions.
Moving forward, the researchers want to see more work done in this area, and they also hope that these findings encourage more consumers to take regular breaks from their smartphones.
Technology often progresses much faster than our ability to understand its consequences, the researchers wrote in the study.
Balancing the practical benefits that smartphones offer against these significant negative consequences is an important task for smartphone users. Our results suggest that, for many people, spending less time with their device can help achieve this balance.
Posted: 2025-02-18 20:46:37
