Mind over Matter: Testing the Efficacy of an Online Randomized Controlled Trial to Reduce Distraction from Smartphone Use

Abstract

<jats:p>Evidence suggests a growing call for the prevention of excessive smartphone and social media use and the ensuing distraction that arises affecting academic achievement and productivity. A ten-day online randomized controlled trial with the use of smartphone apps, engaging participants in mindfulness exercises, self-monitoring and mood tracking, was implemented amongst UK university students (n = 143). Participants were asked to complete online pre- and post-intervention assessments. Results indicated high effect sizes in reduction of smartphone distraction and improvement scores on a number of self-reported secondary psychological outcomes. The intervention was not effective in reducing habitual behaviours, nomophobia, or time spent on social media. Mediation analyses demonstrated that: (i) emotional self-awareness but not mindful attention mediated the relationship between intervention effects and smartphone distraction, and (ii) online vigilance mediated the relationship between smartphone distraction and problematic social media use. The present study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of an intervention for decreased smartphone distraction and highlights psychological processes involved in this emergent phenomenon in the smartphone literature. Online interventions may serve as complementary strategies to reduce distraction levels and promote insight into online engagement. More research is required to elucidate the mechanisms of digital distraction and assess its implications in problematic use.</jats:p>

Exploring the Dimensions of Smartphone Distraction: Development, Validation, Measurement Invariance, and Latent Mean Differences of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS)

“…The Deficient Self-Regulation Measure (DSR) (178) is a 7item scale assessing poor self-regulation in video game playing adapted for smartphone use (40) and unregulated internet use (179). This measure has been shown to exhibit sound psychometric properties (178), with sample items in the scale adapted for smartphone use including "I get strong urges to use social media" and "I feel my social media use is out of control."…”

“…More specifically, the rationale for the development of this scale was based on the premise that distractive smartphone use appears to be driven primarily by the cognitive preoccupation with social media content in order to attend to needs for validation and control (of content, self-presentation, and relationships). This preoccupation and urge to check ( 90 ) or interact, in turn, prompts emotional reactivity and behavioral activation in the form of distraction ( 40 , 91 ), amplified by FOMO and the need to control self-presentation and others' perceptions or seek reassurance ( 92 ). This process could also be experienced from non-social use ( 73 , 93 ) because smartphones are multi-purpose devices and recent studies suggest that process use (e.g., watching videos, browsing online) is widespread as much as social use ( 73 ) and with stronger associations with problematic smartphone use ( 92 , 94 ).…”

“…Problematic social media use , reflects a prolonged pathological engagement with social media content ( 119 ), which may be mediated by distraction and constant checking ( 11 , 40 , 83 , 120 ). The current literature suggests that frequent smartphone checking behaviors ( 91 , 121 ) have been associated with distraction ( 46 , 122 , 123 ) and habitual use ( 94 , 121 ) fueled by FOMO, neurotic tendencies ( 124 ) and online vigilance (i.e., preoccupation with salient online content) ( 91 ).…”

“…Given the numerous advantages of smartphones which provide constant internet accessibility, distraction has become frequent and endemic among smartphone users, potentially reinforcing more habitual or compulsive smartphone use (40). Distraction has been traditionally defined as an emotion regulation coping strategy implicated in shifting focus to a nonthreatening situation or thought to reduce emotional distress and negative affect (41)(42)(43)(44)(45).…”

Emerging Health and Education Issues Related to Internet Technologies and Addictive Problems

“…The novelty is these studies is the inclusion of more contextual or environmental factors related to these technological use problems [ 31 , 34 ] and sometimes were treated as predictive ones (i.e., Relational-predictive studies) using predictive aims through statistical techniques to for example extract the factors which seems to cause an outcome (20% of the papers). Only a few studies have real independent variables manipulated by the researchers to cause an effect in other dependent ones, such as new health and educational interventions studied (e.g., Solution-Focused Group Counselling Intervention [ 25 ], an app based on cognitive-behavioural principles to avoid smartphone distractions [ 15 ]). This means applied research in the field is starting to look for explanations outside the intra-individual sphere through more controlled research designs, through new clinical and educational interventions to promote preventive strategies to minimize harms.…”