[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-50004-en":3,"doc-seo-50004-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},50004,1099514068365,"Aurelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/10000253d8d9f28188e?_k=1776742907772140068",10,"Lifestyle","Are You Addicted to Your Phone? Rethinking Digital Tech Use","The text challenges the assumption that regular digital technology users are “addicted” to screens by noting the lack of clinical criteria for digital addiction and pointing to methodological flaws in related research. A highlighted 2020 study used an “offline-friend addiction questionnaire,” showing that people could be labeled addicted to normal socialising, illustrating how researchers may confuse enjoyment with pathology. It argues digital detoxes lack consistent long-term benefits and proposes reframing technology use as habit-based rather than inherently harmful, enabling better curation of experiences.","FIaskedyou to describe therelationshipyou have withyourphone,what wouldyousay?For many,I have a suspicionthat the word“addicted”wouldcropupin some way.Forthose ofus whouse digitaltechnology withany sort of regularity,there willinevitably come a point wherewe think we have overdone it,and that doesn't feelgood.  \nBut does this really mean we areaddicted to ourscreens?I wouldwagerthat,forthe vast majority ofusers,the answeris no.Certainlynot in a clinical sense,becausethere is no formalset of criteria fordigital addiction.And while thereare numerous studies attemptingto identify and categorise peopleusing that term,there are somefundamental problems with theresearch area that raise questionsover what psychologists aremeasuring in the first place.  \nBackin 2020,some of theseissues were highlighted by apaperin which ateam used standardtechniques to developan“offline-friend addiction questionnaire”.This test was given to around 8o0people,and,using criteria manyotherstudies use when attemptingto classify digitaladdictions,theteam found that 69 per cent of theparticipants couldbe“diagnosed”with an addiction to spendingtime with their friends.  \nObviously,the aim wasn't tostoke anew moral panic aboutsocialising.Instead,theteam wasshowing how easy it is to createwhat,at face value,appears tobe a data-driven measure ofan  \nSIMONE ROTELLA  \n577C7J(  \naddictive behaviour,yet is actuallypathologising a normal part ofeveryday life.The idea of beingaddictedto offline friendshipsis farcical,but swapin“socialmedia”or“smartphones”andthat is what is happening in thedigitaltechnology researchliterature.We are stuckin a cycleofresearchers conflatingpeople'senjoyment of an activity withthe ideathat this means it hasthe potentialto become addictive.This leads,ultimately,to the beliefthe activity is inherently bad.  \nIt is absolutely truethat we candevelopbad relationships withthe tech we use.But because we  \nare stuckin a way ofthinking aboutscreens that places addiction at itscore,it becomes hard to talk aboutthe positive aspects oftheiruse.If we want to do anything aboutthe negatives,we are left witha single solution:abstinence.Digital detoxes aretouted as asort of panacea formany of ourills,but evidence for their efficacyis mixed at best.A recent review,for example,revealed that whilesome studies show positive effects,others show negative effects andnone convincingly demonstrateany long-term benefits.  \nIt is all well andgood sayingthatwe shouldn't think about ourtech  \nuse in terms ofaddiction,but thatalone doesn't get us very far.Weall have moments where we feelunhappy with ourscreentime,andthere is no one simple fix.But hereis something that may help:anemergingline of research says weneed to recharacterise the way weview ourrelationships with digitaltech,not in terms of problematicuse,but in terms of habits.  \nIn and ofthemselves,habits,likechecking ourphones,are neutral.Whetherthey have positive ornegative effects on our well-beingdepends not just on the type ofhabit,but the context in which itoccurs,how frequently it occursand what other factors mightbe contributing to us doing it.  \nFraming ourtech use in thisway offers us a much widerrangeof options when we identify theaspects ofit that we aren't happywith.Ratherthan ditching techaltogether,we can seekways tocurate our digitalexperiences thatpromote positive effects whileminimising negativeimpacts.  \nAreyou addicted to yourphone?Probably not.Have you developedbad habits with it?That is likely tobetrue formany ofus.But thinkingabout thosebehaviours in termsof habit formation offers us muchmore powerand control whenit comes to developing healthierrelationships with ourscreens.  \nPete Etchells is theauthor of Unlocked:The real science of screentime(and how to spendit better),out 21March","cbCaikyuXkQlMNda","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikyuXkQlMNda","pdf",1126177,2,1,3,"English","en",105,"# Digital addiction vs normal use\n## Limits of clinical criteria and research methods\n## The offline-friend questionnaire example\n# Why abstinence-only approaches fall short\n## Mixed evidence for digital detoxes\n# Reframing screen use as habits\n## Context, frequency, and well-being outcomes\n## Curation over avoidance","[{\"question\":\"Why does the text question the idea of digital addiction?\",\"answer\":\"It emphasizes that there is no formal clinical set of criteria for digital addiction and that research may measure something unclear due to fundamental problems in how it classifies users.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the 2020 “offline-friend addiction questionnaire” study illustrate?\",\"answer\":\"The study used common classification criteria and found many participants could be “diagnosed,” showing how easily researchers can turn normal everyday behaviour into a seemingly data-driven “addictive” label.\"},{\"question\":\"What alternative approach does the text recommend to improve relationships with screens?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends reframing technology use as habit formation rather than problematic use at the core, allowing people to curate digital experiences and strengthen healthier contexts and routines.\"}]",1783578934,5,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":28},"are-you-addicted-to-your-phone-rethinking-digital-tech-use","",{"@graph":36,"@context":84},[37,52,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,49],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/lifestyle/",{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/are-you-addicted-to-your-phone-rethinking-digital-tech-use/50004/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-14","2026-07-09",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"Why 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