Study Shows Phone Use Improves Teens' Moods

Two pediatric psychologists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that using smartphones may slightly improve adolescents' moods. Matt Minich and Megan Moreno published their results in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Social media and some mainstream media have reported in recent years that phone use by young people may delay their emotional and/or social maturity. In this new effort, researchers, noting that little research has been done on the topic, conducted a study to better understand the impact of phone use by adolescents of different ages on mood.

The researchers sent a short survey to 235 adolescents (ages 12 to 17) who had volunteered to participate in the project.

But instead of randomly asking teens questions about the impact of their phone use on their mood, they used an ecological momentary assessment procedure in which respondents are asked about their mood at the time they answer the question. 'investigation.

In this case, such moments would occur while a teenager was using their phone, since the investigation was based on text messages.

The project lasted six days. Each of the volunteers received 30 surveys at random times throughout the day. Volunteers rated their current mood on a scale of 1 to 7 and the questions were worded to measure their mood in real time and their mood just before they started using their phone.

The researchers found that volunteers rated their mood slightly higher when they were actively using their phone. They also found that the volunteers' mood improved when they started using their phones, going from an average of 5 to 5.5 on the scale. They noted that many teens reported finding their moods improved the more they used their phones.

The researchers conclude by reporting a positive association for adolescents' use of smartphones as a social tool.