Cell phone use predicts being an "active couch potato": results from a cross-sectional survey of sufficiently active college students

Passive sensing of smartphone use, physical activity and sedentary behavior among adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

The research that links excessive screen time to adverse health outcomes is based on self-reported screen use. Few studies have documented how passively-sensed smartphone and app use relate to health behaviors like activity and sitting. Furthermore, they have not considered that daily fluctuations in smartphone/app use may have different relationships to these behaviors than a person's usual smartphone/app use. This study evaluated whether physical activity or sedentary (sitting) behavior are associated with either smartphone screen time or specific smartphone app use by adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents and young adults aged 13-29 years wore activPAL4 micro activity monitors while their smartphones logged daily screen time and app use durations for nine days. Data were collected in 2020-2021 and analyzed in 2022-2023. Participants (N = 125) had a mean (SD) age of 19.7 (4.3) years. Participants' usual smartphone screen time was negatively associated with daily step counts. Daily deviations in smartphone screen time were negatively associated with daily step counts and moderate-vigorous physical activity durations. Time spent on Instagram, YouTube and, to a lesser extent, TikTok were linked with reduced activity levels. Daily sedentary behavior was not associated with usual or daily screen time. Interventions to promote physical activity during the transition into adulthood may benefit from limiting excessive smartphone screen time. Specific intervention targets could include limiting use of apps with infinite scrolling feeds algorithmically tuned to maintain user engagement, such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Examining the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on exercise behavior and perceived academic stress among U.S. college students

Objective: The aim of this study was to capture the impact of COVID-19 on exercise behavior in U.S. college students. Exercise behaviors and perceived academic stress were examined from pre-COVID-19 (January-March 2020) and early-COVID-19 (April-July 2020) to continued-COVID-19 times (August-October 2020). Participants: One hundred and thirty-two participants completed the online questionnaires retrospectively. Methods: Two-way analyses of variance were used to examine exercise behaviors and academic stress perception over time between genders. Results: Participants spent much time in sedentary behavior and an increase in academic stress was evident in learning during the early-COVID-19 period. The time spent in sedentary behavior was reduced, but the stress involving coursework remained during the continued-COVID period. The impact of the COVID pandemic was observed to be universal across sex groups. Conclusions: Universities should consider how to support physical and mental health during lockdown and extended closure due to a pandemic.

Sports and exercise-related smartphone use is antagonistic to hedonic use in regular exercisers: A cross-sectional study examining the roles of exercise frequency and duration

Background

Hedonic smartphone use has been associated with dependence and addiction studied under the umbrella term Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU). Research usually explores total screen time as an index of PSU. A few studies suggest that exercise is inversely related to smartphone use time. However, it is unknown which primary characteristics of exercise behavior are related to more moderate smarthone use. Furthermore, the purpose of smartphone use, such as hedonic use associated with PSU versus utilitarian use, was not tested in the sports and exercise contexts. Hedonic use generally means playing with the smartphone for joy, distraction, and satisfaction. Utilitarian use implies practical and valuable use. There is a conjecture that sports involvement may foster utilitarian use through increased involvement in sports-related information-seeking, goal-setting, and self-monitoring.

Methods

Therefore, we examined whether weekly exercise frequency, workout duration, and perceived exercise intensity relate to total daily smarthone and hedonic use and whether this relationship is mediated by sports-related utilitarian device use. We tested regularly exercising adults (n = 360, 132 males, M age = 39.0 ± 9.8, M weekly exercise = 5.8 ± 1.9) who volunteered for this study and provided demographic information about their exercise habits and smartphone use.

Results

The results revealed that all exercise parameters mediated the total daily smartphone use, with perceived exercise intensity being a negative predictor. Further, exercise frequency and duration (but not intensity) positively predicted sports-related smartphone use, which inversely predicted hedonic use.

Conclusion

These results suggest that exercise parameters directly relate to daily smartphone use, which completely mediates hedonic use. These findings may partially account for the frequently reported inverse relationship between regular exercise and PSU by suggesting that the connection is mediated via sports-related smartphone use.

Smartphone use and well-being in Pakistan: Comparing the effect of self-reported and actual smartphone use

Objective

Past work has shown that smartphone use has negative effects on well-being. Yet, most evidence relies on self-reported measures of smartphone use and comes from Western democracies. We examined the relationship between both self-reported and actual smartphone use and well-being in Pakistan, a country that is under-researched in the Global South. Additionally, we investigated the moderating effect of the fear of missing out (FoMO).

Methods

We conducted an online survey among 427 Pakistani citizens. Participants reported their smartphone use and well-being (i.e., levels of depression, loneliness, and life satisfaction). At the end of the survey, participants were asked to upload screenshots of their respective 'Screen Time' (for iOS) or 'Digital Well-being' (for Android) apps, which we used to measure their actual smartphone use.

Results

We found a moderate association between self-reported and actual smartphone use (r = .36); on average, participants underreported their daily smartphone use by 11 min. Actual smartphone use was negatively associated with well-being, while self-reported use showed no statistically significant association. FoMO was positively associated with actual smartphone use but not with self-reported use. Finally, FoMO moderated the relationship between self-reported use and well-being.

Conclusion

Our findings show that the relationship between smartphone use and well-being depends on how smartphone use is measured and is moderated by FoMO. Moreover, we find that mobile data donation is viable in Pakistan, which should encourage future research to use it as a complement to self-reported media use more often.

Eat, sleep, play: health behaviors and their association with psychological health among cancer survivors in a nationally representative sample

BACKGROUND

Cancer survivors are able to live much longer today than in the past due to advances in treatment. The promotion of health behaviors is important to address among cancer survivors. Not only can health behaviors reduce the risk of comorbidities, but they may also be key to improving psychological health among cancer survivors, such as psychological distress, perceptions of one's general health, and distress of cancer mortality (i.e., cancer fatalism). Our overall goal is to 1) determine which individual health behaviors (e.g., fruit consumption, physical activity, and sleep) are associated with psychological health among cancer survivors and 2) determine if the number of health behaviors engaged in is associated with better psychological health among cancer survivors.

METHODS

Using data from the HINTS 5 Cycle III survey (N = 856 cancer survivors), we compared whether participants who met guidelines for seven health behaviors (e.g., fruit and vegetable consumption, moderate physical activity, sleep duration) had improved psychological health. Multiple ordinal regression models controlling for sociodemographic variables were used to determine if meeting more recommendations was related to psychological health and then specifically which behaviors were of greatest importance to psychological health.

RESULTS

Meeting guidelines for sleep quality and moderate physical activity was associated with higher general health and meeting guidelines for vegetable intake and better sleep quality was associated with less psychological distress. Although the associations were not significant, cancer survivors who met more of the health behavior guidelines reported higher general health, lower psychological distress, and less distress about what could be done to lower one's chances to get cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Meeting the guidelines for individual and multiple health behaviors is associated with favorable psychological health among cancer survivors. The findings can contribute to the development of health behavior interventions that focus on multiple health behaviors to improve psychological health and quality of life among cancer survivors.

Excessive Smartphone Use Is Associated With Health Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults

Background and Aims: This present paper will review the existing evidence on the effects of excessive smartphone use on physical and mental health. Results: Comorbidity with depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD and alcohol use disorder. Excessive smartphone use is associated with difficulties in cognitive-emotion regulation, impulsivity, impaired cognitive function, addiction to social networking, shyness and low self-esteem. Medical problems include sleep problems, reduced physical fitness, unhealthy eating habits, pain and migraines, reduced cognitive control and changes in the brain's gray matter volume. In Conclusion: Excessive smartphone use is associated with psychiatric, cognitive, emotional, medical and brain changes that should be considered by health and education professionals.

Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States

BACKGROUND

University students are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable population, suffering from higher levels of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and disordered eating compared to the general population. Therefore, when the nature of their educational experience radically changes-such as sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic-the burden on the mental health of this vulnerable population is amplified. The objectives of this study are to 1) identify the array of psychological impacts COVID-19 has on students, 2) develop profiles to characterize students' anticipated levels of psychological impact during the pandemic, and 3) evaluate potential sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and awareness of people infected with COVID-19 risk factors that could make students more likely to experience these impacts.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected through web-based questionnaires from seven U.S. universities. Representative and convenience sampling was used to invite students to complete the questionnaires in mid-March to early-May 2020, when most coronavirus-related sheltering in place orders were in effect. We received 2,534 completed responses, of which 61% were from women, 79% from non-Hispanic Whites, and 20% from graduate students.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis on close-ended responses resulted in two latent constructs, which we used to identify profiles of students with latent profile analysis, including high (45% of sample), moderate (40%), and low (14%) levels of psychological impact. Bivariate associations showed students who were women, were non-Hispanic Asian, in fair/poor health, of below-average relative family income, or who knew someone infected with COVID-19 experienced higher levels of psychological impact. Students who were non-Hispanic White, above-average social class, spent at least two hours outside, or less than eight hours on electronic screens were likely to experience lower levels of psychological impact. Multivariate modeling (mixed-effects logistic regression) showed that being a woman, having fair/poor general health status, being 18 to 24 years old, spending 8 or more hours on screens daily, and knowing someone infected predicted higher levels of psychological impact when risk factors were considered simultaneously.

CONCLUSION

Inadequate efforts to recognize and address college students' mental health challenges, especially during a pandemic, could have long-term consequences on their health and education.

The Acute Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in University Students and Employees

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed non-essential businesses which may alter individuals' leisure behaviors. Consequently, physical activity and sedentary behavior may be negatively impacted as many fitness and recreational centers have been closed. This study aimed to examine the impact of the pandemic on physical activity and sedentary behavior in a sample of university students and employees before and after the university cancelled face-to-face classes and closed campus. Participants (N = 398) completed the validated Godin physical activity questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire which assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior pre- and post-cancellation of face-to-face classes. Participants were also separated in the groups (low, moderate, high physical activity) based upon a tertile split of pre-pandemic total physical activity. Physical activity group by time ANOVAs were used to assess potential changes in total physical activity and sedentary behavior. Post-cancellation sedentary behavior was greater (F (1, 388) = 9.2, p = 0.003, partial η2 = 0.032) than pre-cancellation. Physical activity group moderated (F (2, 395) = 22.0, p < 0.001, partial η2 ≥ 0.10) changes in total physical activity from pre- to post cancellation. The high activity group decreased physical activity whereas the moderate and low activity groups increased physical activity (t ≥ 2.4, p ≤ 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.23). While the university closure increased sedentary behavior across the sample, it only decreased physical activity in participants who were the most active pre-cancellation. Pandemic-related closure of facilities designed for physical activity may disproportionately impact active individuals.

Smartphone Use Predicts Being an "Active Couch Potato" in Sufficiently Active Adults

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between smartphone use, television viewing, and the "active couch potato" in sufficiently active adults. Methods: A sample of 328 sufficiently active adults aged 18 to 80 years (mean ± SD = 38 ± 15 years) completed surveys assessing smartphone use, television viewing, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Active couch potatoes were defined as individuals who met physical activity guidelines and engaged in 8 or more hours per day of sedentary behavior. Results: Mean smartphone use was 4.04 ± 3.74 hours per day. There were 128/328 (39%) participants coded as active couch potatoes. Active couch potato was significantly positively (Wald = 7.326, P = .007) associated with smartphone use. Being an active couch potato was not (Wald = 0.658, P = .417) associated with television viewing. Sedentary behavior and smartphone use were significantly greater (t ≥ 3.55, P < .001) among active couch potatoes (11.35 ± 3.25 hours sitting per day, 4.95 ± 4.5 hours smartphone use per day) than sufficiently active, nonsedentary individuals (5.06 ± 1.64 hours sitting per day, 3.45 ± 3.04 hours smartphone use per day). Conclusion: In sufficiently active adults, smartphone use predicted being an active couch potato and television viewing did not.