IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2021i1p358-d714215.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Difficulties in Establishing “Truth” Conditions in the Assessment of Addictive Smartphone Use in Young Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Javier García-Manglano

    (Institute of Culture and Society, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain)

  • Claudia López-Madrigal

    (School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain)

  • Charo Sádaba-Chalezquer

    (School of Communication, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain)

  • Cecilia Serrano

    (Department of Sociology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Olatz Lopez-Fernandez

    (Health Research Institute, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The smartphone revolution has placed powerful, multipurpose devices in the hands of youth across the globe, prompting worries about the potential negative consequences of these technologies on mental health. Many assessment tools have been created, seeking to classify individuals into problematic and non-problematic smartphone users. These are identified using a cutoff value: a threshold, within the scale range, at which higher scores are expected to be associated with negative outcomes. Lacking a clinical assessment of individuals, the establishment of this threshold is challenging. We illustrate this difficulty by calculating cutoff values for the Short Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-SV) in 13 Spanish-speaking samples in 11 countries, using common procedures (i.e., reliability, validity, ROC methodology). After showing that results can be very heterogeneous (i.e., they lead to diverse cutoff points and rates of addiction) depending on the decisions made by the researchers, we call for caution in the use of these classifications, particularly when researchers lack a clinical definition of true addiction—as is the case with most available scales in the field of behavioral addictions—which can cause an unnecessary public health alert.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier García-Manglano & Claudia López-Madrigal & Charo Sádaba-Chalezquer & Cecilia Serrano & Olatz Lopez-Fernandez, 2021. "Difficulties in Establishing “Truth” Conditions in the Assessment of Addictive Smartphone Use in Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:358-:d:714215
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/358/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/358/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cocoradă, Elena & Maican, Cătălin Ioan & Cazan, Ana-Maria & Maican, Maria Anca, 2018. "Assessing the smartphone addiction risk and its associations with personality traits among adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 345-354.
    2. José-María Romero-Rodríguez & Inmaculada Aznar-Díaz & José-Antonio Marín-Marín & Rebeca Soler-Costa & Carmen Rodríguez-Jiménez, 2020. "Impact of Problematic Smartphone Use and Instagram Use Intensity on Self-Esteem with University Students from Physical Education," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Amy Orben & Andrew K. Przybylski, 2019. "The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 173-182, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sana Sadiq & Khadija Anasse & Najib Slimani, 2022. "The impact of mobile phones on high school students: connecting the research dots," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 30(1), pages 252-270, April.
    2. Omar Hegazi & Samer Alalalmeh & Ahmad Alfaresi & Soheil Dashtinezhad & Ahmed Bahada & Moyad Shahwan & Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun & Tesleem K. Babalola & Haya Yasin, 2022. "Development, Validation, and Utilization of a Social Media Use and Mental Health Questionnaire among Middle Eastern and Western Adults: A Pilot Study from the UAE," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Gülsen Erden & Asil Ali Özdoğru & Sami Çoksan & Hale Ögel-Balaban & Yakup Azak & İlkiz Altınoğlu-Dikmeer & Aysun Ergül-Topçu & Yeşim Yasak & Gözde Kıral-Uçar & Seda Oktay & Pelin Karaca-Dinç & Ezgi Di, 2022. "Social Contact, Academic Satisfaction, COVID-19 Knowledge, and Subjective Well-being Among Students at Turkish Universities: a Nine-University Sample," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2017-2039, August.
    4. Elena Cocoradă, 2018. "Between Attraction and Interdiction: Smartphone and Internet," Global Journal of Addiction & Rehabilitation Medicine, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 6(1), pages 15-17, September.
    5. Schneider, Sebastian O. & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Higher Order Risk Preferences: Experimental Measures, Determinants and Related Field Behavior," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224643, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Herrero, Juan & Rodríguez, Francisco J. & Urueña, Alberto, 2023. "Use of smartphone apps for mobile communication and social digital pressure: A longitudinal panel study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Cecilia M. S. Ma, 2022. "Relationships between Social Networking Sites Use and Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Gender," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-11, September.
    8. Semken, Christoph & Rossell, David, 2020. "Bayesian Specification Curve Analysis," OSF Preprints cahyq, Center for Open Science.
    9. Sitar-Tăut, Dan-Andrei & Mican, Daniel & Moisescu, Ovidiu-Ioan, 2024. "To be (online) or not to be? The antecedents of online study propensity and e-learning-dependent dropout intention in higher education," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    10. Aviana O. Rosen & Ashley L. Holmes & Nekane Balluerka & Maria Dolores Hidalgo & Arantxa Gorostiaga & Juana Gómez-Benito & Tania B. Huedo-Medina, 2022. "Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Chantie Charissa Luijten & Daphne Bongardt & Anna Petra Nieboer, 2022. "The Roles of Social Media Use and Friendship Quality in Adolescents’ Internalizing Problems and Well-being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3161-3178, October.
    12. Chavalarias David & Beatrice De Gelder & Guido Caldarelli & Melanie Dulong de Rosnay & Antonio A. Casilli & Alexandre Delanoë & Luisa Fassi & Divina Frau-Meigs & Bertrand Jouve & Andrzej Nowak & Vícto, 2023. "Toward a Research Agenda on Digital Media and Humanity Well-Being," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04091733, HAL.
    13. Schweinsberg, Martin & Feldman, Michael & Staub, Nicola & van den Akker, Olmo R. & van Aert, Robbie C.M. & van Assen, Marcel A.L.M. & Liu, Yang & Althoff, Tim & Heer, Jeffrey & Kale, Alex & Mohamed, Z, 2021. "Same data, different conclusions: Radical dispersion in empirical results when independent analysts operationalize and test the same hypothesis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 228-249.
    14. Xiaoxiong Lai & Chang Nie & Shunsen Huang & Yajun Li & Tao Xin & Cai Zhang & Yun Wang, 2022. "Effect of Growth Mindset on Mental Health Two Years Later: The Role of Smartphone Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-11, March.
    15. Byrnes, Alex, 2024. "Reanalysis of Sanders et al. (2024): An Umbrella Review of the Benefits and Risks Associated with Youths' Interactions with Electronic Screens," I4R Discussion Paper Series 154, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    16. In-Whi Hwang & Ju-Pil Choe & Jeong-Hui Park & Jung-Min Lee, 2022. "Association between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Satisfaction with Sleep Fatigue Recovery and Smartphone Dependency among Korean Adolescents: An Age- and Gender-Matched Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, November.
    17. Linda K. Kaye & Amy Orben & David A. Ellis & Simon C. Hunter & Stephen Houghton, 2020. "The Conceptual and Methodological Mayhem of “Screen Time”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-10, May.
    18. Pedro Bação & Marta Simões, 2020. "Is the Welfare State Relevant for Economic Growth? Evidence for Portugal," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(3), pages 494-520, September.
    19. Hoong, Ruru, 2021. "Self control and smartphone use: An experimental study of soft commitment devices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    20. Ruthaychonnee Sittichai & Peter K. Smith, 2020. "Information Technology Use and Cyberbullying Behavior in South Thailand: A Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:358-:d:714215. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.