Beijing time on February 11 news, a new study revealed the most serious problem of smartphone addiction in the country, surprisingly, China ranked first.
Researchers at McGill University in Canada studied smartphone usage by nearly 34,000 people in 24 countries around the world between 2014 and 2020. The research paper was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
According to the study, China, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are the three countries with the most serious problems with smartphone addiction, with Germany and France ranking at the bottom.
"We conducted a meta-analysis of problematic smartphone usage behavior, mainly in young adults. Between 2014 and 2020, problematic smartphone use around the world will become increasingly serious, and we expect this trend to continue. The research team referenced 81 previously published papers on smartphone use among teenagers and middle-aged adults, all based on the Smartphone Addiction Scale.
Smartphone addiction scales are widely used to measure smartphone addiction, including dimensions related to the impact on daily life, uncontrollable use of mobile phones, and withdrawal from smartphone addiction.
Participants ranged in age from 15 to 35 years, with an average age of 28.8 years, with the majority of participants being female (60%).
The researchers calculated problematic smartphone usage scores for each country, ranging from 10 to 60. China came in first with 36 points. Canada also ranks quite high, ranking seventh, well above the United States.
One possible explanation for different countries scoring differently is the social norms and cultural expectations associated with the positivity to stay connected via smartphones, the researchers speculate.
The countries with the lowest scores on smartphone addiction are Germany and France, which are "individualistic and culturally loose," so they may not believe in such norms.
Overall, the findings show that problematic smartphone use is increasing around the world, with "psychological consequences."
"Other studies track objective metrics such as smartphone ownership and time spent, but it's also important to study subjective metrics and the psychological consequences of problematic smartphone use," the researchers said. We hope that the results of our research will help researchers and policymakers around the world energize and predict problematic smartphone usage. ”
The research team also recently launched a website where the public can assess their smartphone addiction compared to people in other parts of the world and recommend other activities to users who are interested in reducing their smartphone use time.