University College London published a study today which shows a startling number (or relieving, depending on how you look at it) of modern university students could be addicted to their smartphones. The study investigated the relationship between smartphone addiction and sleep quality in 1,043 people aged 18 to 30 years old. It had the young adults fill out a smartphone addiction questionnaire, complete an adapted Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Score Index, and answer questions both in person and online over a period of 40 days before the answers were evaluated.
The study states:
“The overall prevalence of smartphone addiction was 38.9% (95%CI: 35.9–41.9%; n = 406/1,043). This includes 35.7% of males who were addicted and 40.1% of females (Table 3). For participants aged under 21 years, 42.2% exhibited smartphone addiction, compared to 34.2 and 28.0% of participants aged 22–25 years, and over 26 years, respectively. Of participants who used their smartphone for 2 or less hours per day, 20.3% were addicted, compared to 53.9% of those who used it for more than 5 h. Of those that stopped using their device more than an hour before bedtime, 23.8% exhibited addiction, compared to 42.0% of those stopping <30 min before bedtime.“