A review by researchers at King’s College London (KCL) has found a link between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and symptoms of eating disorders (ED).
PSU reflects addiction-like symptoms, wherein a person is unable to control or regulate their smartphone use, leading to negative mental health consequences such as anxiety and depression.
EDs are mental health conditions where people use and control food to cope with negative feelings. Symptoms include worrying too much about your weight and body, having strict routines around food, and avoiding social situations that include food. Common EDs are anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. An estimated 725,000 people in the UK have an ED and it most commonly affects adolescents and young adults, especially women.
The review included 35 studies from all over the world, leading to a sample size of 52,584.
Despite participants not having a diagnosis of an ED, the researchers Professor Ben Carter and colleagues found that greater daily smartphone use was linked to symptoms of ED, including food addiction, body dissatisfaction, and emotional overeating.
While most research has looked into the harmful effects of social media, this is the first to look at PSU and symptoms of ED. However, a major limitation of the review is that it is cross-sectional in nature. That is, it only measures the relationship between PSU and ED symptoms at one time point.
It is unclear as to whether PSU contributes to ED symptoms or the other way around, and does not acknowledge any other variables that might contribute to this relationship.
This highlights the need for longitudinal studies that can measure the relationship between PSU and ED over several months or years.
Overall, even though the findings of the study point to a relationship between PSU and symptoms of ED, further research is needed to ascertain the direction and underlying causes of this link.
With increasing smartphone use, especially among students, it is vital to understand its impacts on mental health. Future research could also demonstrate whether reducing PSU could reduce symptoms of ED, providing a better understanding of how such behaviours influence mental health in general.
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