My first smartphone: Effects of first smartphone age, frequency, and types of use on attention and problematic usage in argentine university students

Abstract

Objective: This study set out to examine the relationship between smartphones’ current frequency and usage type, lifelong exposure, the presence of problematic usage indicators, and attention performance among Argentine university students. Method: The study design was correlational and cross-sectional. The study sample consisted of 299 Argentinean university students. Their attention was evaluated with the Faces test, and problematic use indicators were assessed with the mobile phone dependence test. In addition, we collected information about lifelong smartphone use and current frequency and type of use through a survey. Associations between variables were examined with Spearman correlations, and the contribution of smartphone use variables to attention and problematic usage measures was analyzed with hierarchical regression models. Results: Those participants who started using smartphones earlier in life exhibited lower attention performance scores, and this effect was larger for those with higher current indicators of abstinence. Social network use was a consistent predictor of all dependency scores, while the age when participants received their first smartphone was specifically associated with abstinence scores. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that early access to smartphones may have a negative long-term impact on attention and increase the presence of abstinence indicators. These effects might be linked to neuroplastic changes that take place during adolescence. Social media use was associated with all the problematic usage indicators.