Fears over technology ‘addictions’ and ‘disorders’ may be unjustified, shows research
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Current measures of digital technology use are not fit for purpose, say University researchers.
Questionnaires and scales measuring how we interact with smartphones, social media and gaming should not be used to demonstrate links with mental health and wellbeing, according to research from the Universities of Bath and Lancaster.
Surveys that ask people about their technology habits often suggest problematic use, even pointing towards the potential for ‘addictive’ behaviours. But when researchers analysed these questionnaires, they found that these measures were not advanced enough to confirm any such issues.
Despite claiming to identify unique issues to specific technologies, such as phobias or addictions, many scales are related to each other. For example, if a participant scored highly on a smartphone ‘addiction’ survey they were also likely to score high on a scale that measured internet gaming ‘disorder’.
‘Many technology measures appear to identify a similar, poorly defined con...
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