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Effects of Psychological or Exercise Interventions on Problematic Mobile Phone Use: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has become a public health issue. This study sought to investigate the effects of psychological interventions (PI) or exercise interventions (EI) for PMPU through a systematic review and meta-analysis. A literature search of ten databases was executed from January 2001 to August 2022. A total of 26 eligible RCTs (31 pairwise comparisons) were finally included. Posttreatment means and SDs were compared between intervention and control groups, and pooled effect sizes were calculated. This study is registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42022296418.

Recent findings

A meta-analysis of 31 pairwise comparisons showed that interventions significantly reduced the total PMPU scores (SMD =  − 1.00), with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 72.8%). Twenty-three of these trials reported PI (SMD =  − 0.99) and the other eight reported EI (SMD =  − 1.02); the change in total PMPU scores was not significantly different between PI and EI (P = 0.787). Among them, the largest effect sizes were found for mindfulness therapy (MT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and general aerobic exercise (GAE) (MT: SMD =  − 1.50; CBT: SMD =  − 1.37; GAE: SMD =  − 1.32). In addition, interventions also reduced the MPUT (SMD =  − 0.91), anxiety (SMD =  − 1.63), loneliness (SMD =  − 1.10), stress (SMD =  − 0.59), and depression (SMD =  − 0.31), and increased mindful attention (SMD = 1.07) and inadequacy (SMD = 1.12).

Summary

This is the first meta-analysis on PI or EI for PMPU. The results showed that PI or EI was equally effective in reducing PMPU. However, more rigorous trials are needed to explore intervention criteria.

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Funding

This study was funded by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81973064).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China

    Kexin Zhang, Xiaoyan Lu, Xueqing Zhang, Jianghui Zhang, Haiyun Guo, Zhihui Zhu, Huayu Yang, Guojing Yuan, Guifang Jin, Jun Du, Haiyan Shi, Linsheng Yang & Zhihua Zhang

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, No. 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Kexin Zhang

  3. The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China

    Juan Ren

  4. Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China

    Jiahu Hao, Ying Sun & Puyu Su

  5. Center for Evidence Based Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China

    Linsheng Yang & Zhihua Zhang

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  1. Kexin Zhang
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Kexin Zhang and Xiaoyan Lu are co-first authors.

Kexin Zhang and Xiaoyan Lu contributed equally and should be considered as co-first authors.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Search strategy

Database search conducted 29th August 2022.

PubMed

(“phone addiction” [Title/Abstract] OR “phone dependenc*” [Title/Abstract] OR “phone abuse” [Title/Abstract] OR “phone attachment” [Title/Abstract] OR “phone overuse” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone addiction” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone dependenc*” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone abuse” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone attachment” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone overuse” [Title/Abstract] OR “smartphone overdependenc*” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic mobile phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic cell phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic cellular phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic smartphone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problematic smart phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem mobile phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem smartphone” [Title/Abstract]  OR “excessive phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “excessive mobile phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “excessive cellular phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “excessive smartphone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive smartphone” [Title/Abstract] OR “nomophobi*” [Title/Abstract] OR “fear of missing out” [Title/Abstract] OR “phone overdependenc*” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem cell phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem cellular phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “problem smart phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “excessive cell phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “excessive smart phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive mobile phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive cell phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive cellular phone” [Title/Abstract] OR “addictive smart phone” [Title/Abstract] OR cell phone use [MESH]) AND (“interven*” [Title/Abstract] OR “treat*” [Title/Abstract] OR “therap*” [Title/Abstract] OR “psychotherapy*” [Title/Abstract] OR “train*” [Title/Abstract] OR “program*” [Title/Abstract] OR “trials*” [Title/Abstract] OR randomized controlled trial [Publication Type] OR controlled clinical trial [Publication Type] OR random* [Title/Abstract] OR placebo [Title/Abstract] OR clinical trials as topic [Mesh terms: noexp] OR trial [Title]) NOT (animals [Mesh terms] NOT humans [Mesh terms])

The Cochrane Library

Results: 109

 

String

Results

1

((“phone addiction”) OR (“phone depend*”) OR (“phone abuse”) OR (“phone attachment”) OR (“phone overuse*”) OR (“phone overdependence”) OR (“smartphone addiction”) OR (“smartphone depend*”) OR (“smartphone abuse”) OR (“smartphone attachment”) OR (“smartphone overuse”) OR (“smartphone overdepend*”) OR (“problematic phone”) OR (“problematic mobile phone”) OR (“problematic cell phone”) OR (“problematic cellular phone”) OR (“problematic smartphone”) OR (“problematic smart phone”) OR (“problem phone”) OR (“problem mobile phone”) OR (“problem cell phone”) OR (“problem cellular phone”) OR (“problem smartphone”) OR (“problem smart phone”) OR (“excessive phone”) OR (“excessive mobile phone”) OR (“excessive cell phone”) OR (“excessive cellular phone”) OR (“excessive smartphone”) OR (“excessive smart phone”) OR (“addictive phone”) OR (“addictivemobile phone”) OR (“addictive cell phone”) OR (“addictive cellular phone”) OR (“addictive smartphone”) OR (“addictive smart phone”) OR ("nomophobia") OR ("fear of missing out")):ti,ab,kw

87

2

MeSH descriptor: [Technology Addiction] explode all trees

11

3

MeSH descriptor: [Cell Phone Use] explode all trees

12

4

MeSH descriptor: [lnternet Addiction Disorder] explode all trees

11

5

#1 OR #2 OR#3 OR#4

109

EMBASE

Results: 495

('phone addiction':ti,ab,kw OR 'phone dependenc*':ti,ab,kw OR 'phone abuse':ti,ab,kw OR 'phone attachment':ti,ab,kw OR 'phone overuse':ti,ab,kw OR 'phone overdependenc*':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone addiction':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone dependenc*':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone abuse':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone attachment':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone overuse':ti,ab,kw OR 'smartphone overdependenc*':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic mobile phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic cell phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic cellular phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic smartphone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problematic smart phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problem phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problem mobile phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problem smart phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'problem smartphone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive mobile phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive cell phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive cellular phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive smart phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'excessive smartphone':ti,ab,kw OR 'addictive phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'addictive mobile phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'addictive smart phone':ti,ab,kw OR 'addictive smartphone':ti,ab,kw OR nomophobi*:ti,ab,kw OR 'fear of missing out':ti,ab,kw OR 'mobile phone addiction'/exp OR 'mobile phone addiction' OR 'fear of missing out'/exp OR 'fear of missing out') AND (interven*:ti,ab,kw OR treat*:ti,ab,kw OR therap*:ti,ab,kw OR psychotherapy*:ti,ab,kw OR train*:ti,ab,kw OR program*:ti,ab,kw OR trials*:ti,ab,kw OR 'randomized controlled trial':it OR 'controlled clinical trial':it OR random*:ti,ab,kw OR placebo:ti,ab,kw OR trial:ti OR 'clinical trial (topic)'/exp OR 'clinical trial (topic)') AND [2001-2022]/py

Scopus

Results: 812

TITLE-ABS-KEY("phone addiction" OR "phone dependenc*" OR "phone abuse" OR "phone attachment" OR "phone overuse" OR "smartphone addiction" OR "smartphone dependenc*" OR "smartphone abuse" OR "smartphone attachment" OR "smartphone overuse" OR "smartphone overdependenc*" OR "problematic phone" OR "problematic mobile phone" OR "problematic cell phone" OR "problematic cellular phone" OR "problematic smartphone" OR "problematic smart phone" OR "problem phone" OR "problem mobile phone" OR "problem smartphone" OR "excessive phone" OR "excessive mobile phone" OR "excessive cellular phone" OR "excessive smartphone" OR "addictive phone" OR "addictive smartphone" OR "nomophobi*" OR "fear of missing out" OR "phone overdependenc*" OR "problem cell phone" OR "problem cellular phone" OR "problem smart phone" OR "excessive cell phone" OR "excessive smart phone" OR "addictive mobile phone" OR "addictive cell phone" OR "addictive cellular phone" OR "addictive smart phone") AND TITLE-ABS-KEY("interven*" OR "treat*" OR "therap*" OR "psychotherapy*" OR "train*" OR "program*" OR "trial*" OR "random*" OR "placebo" OR "randomized controlled trial")

Web of Science

Results: 1387

(TS=(“phone addiction” OR “phone depend*” OR “phone abuse” OR “phone attachment” OR “phone overuse” OR “phone overdepend*” OR “smartphone addiction” OR “smartphone depend*” OR “smartphone abuse” OR “smartphone attachment” OR “smartphone overuse” OR “smartphone overdepend*” OR “problematic phone” OR “problematic mobile phone” OR “problematic cell phone” OR “problematic cellular phone” OR “problematic smartphone” OR “problematic smart phone” OR “problem phone” OR “problem mobile phone” OR “problem cell phone” OR “problem cellular phone” OR “problem smartphone” OR “problem smart phone” OR “excessive phone” OR “excessive mobile phone” OR “excessive cell phone” OR “excessive cellular phone” OR “excessive smartphone” OR “excessive smart phone” OR “addictive phone” OR “addictive mobile phone” OR “addictive cell phone” OR “addictive cellular phone” OR “addictive smartphone” OR “addictive smart phone” OR “nomophobi*” OR “fear of missing out”)) AND (TS=(“interven*” OR “treat*” OR “therap*” OR “psychotherapy*” OR “train*” OR “program*” OR “trial*” OR “random*” OR “placebo” OR “randomized controlled trial”))

PsycINFO

Results: 748

((phone addiction or phone dependenc* or phone abuse or phone attachment or phone overdependenc* or phone overuse or smartphone addiction or smartphone dependenc* or smartphone abuse or smartphone attachment or smartphone overdependenc* or smartphone overuse or problematic phone or problematic mobile phone or problematic cell phone or problematic cellular phone or problematic smartphone or problematic smart phone or problem phone or problem mobile phone or problem cell phone or problem cellular phone or problem smartphone or problem smart phone or excessive phone or excessive mobile phone or excessive cell phone or excessive cellular phone or excessive smartphone or excessive smart phone or addictive phone or addictive mobile phone or addictive cell phone or addictive cellular phone or addictive smartphone or addictive smart phone).ab. or (phone addiction or phone dependenc* or phone abuse or phone attachment or phone overdependenc* or phone overuse or smartphone addiction or smartphone dependenc* or smartphone abuse or smartphone attachment or smartphone overdependenc* or smartphone overuse or problematic phone or problematic mobile phone or problematic cell phone or problematic cellular phone or problematic smartphone or problematic smart phone or problem phone or problem mobile phone or problem cell phone or problem cellular phone or problem smartphone or problem smart phone or excessive phone or excessive mobile phone or excessive cell phone or excessive cellular phone or excessive smartphone or excessive smart phone or addictive phone or addictive mobile phone or addictive cell phone or addictive cellular phone or addictive smartphone or addictive smart phone).ti.) AND ((interven* or treat* or therap* or psychotherapy* or train* or program* or trial* or random* or placebo).ab. or (interven* or treat* or therap* or psychotherapy* or train* or program* or trial* or random* or placebo).ti.)

Chinese BioMedical Literature

Results: 248

(( "手机成瘾"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机依赖"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机滥用"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机沉迷"[常用字段:智能] OR "问题性手机使用"[常用字段:智能] OR "病理性手机使用"[常用字段:智能] OR "强迫性手机使用"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机过度使用"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机恐惧症"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机焦虑"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机中毒"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机依恋"[常用字段:智能] OR "手机游戏成瘾"[常用字段:智能]) AND ( "干预"[常用字段:智能] OR "团体"[常用字段:智能] OR "教育"[常用字段:智能] OR "认知行为"[常用字段:智能] OR "正念"[常用字段:智能] OR "试验"[常用字段:智能] OR "疗法"[常用字段:智能] OR "访谈"[常用字段:智能] OR "治疗"[常用字段:智能] OR "训练"[常用字段:智能] OR "计划"[常用字段:智能] OR "研讨"[常用字段:智能]))

China National Knowledge Infrastructure

Results: 1382

TKA=('手机成瘾' + '手机依赖' + '手机滥用' + '手机沉迷' + '问题*手机使用' + '手机过*使用' + '手机恐惧症' + '手机中毒' + '手机焦虑' + '手机依恋' + '手机游戏成瘾') AND TKA=('干预' + '团体' + '教育' + '认知行为' + '正念' + '试验' + '疗法' + '访谈' + '治疗' + '训练' + '计划' + '研讨')

WANFANG database

Results: 1070

(主题:("手机成瘾" or "手机依赖" or "问题性手机使用" or "手机过度使用" or "手机沉迷" or "手机焦虑" or "手机中毒" or "手机恐惧" or "手机依恋" or "手机游戏成瘾") and 主题:( "干预" or "团体" or "教育" or "认知行为" or "正念" or "试验" or "疗法" or "访谈" or "治疗" or "计划" or "训练" or "研讨")) and Date:2001-*

China Science and Technology Journal database

Results: 1222

(M=(手机成瘾 OR 手机依赖 OR 手机依恋 OR 手机沉迷 OR 问题性手机使用 OR 病理性手机使用 OR 手机过度使用 OR 手机中毒 OR 手机焦虑 OR 手机恐惧) OR R=(手机成瘾 OR 手机依赖 OR 手机依恋 OR 手机沉迷 OR 问题性手机使用 OR 病理性手机使用 OR 手机过度使用 OR 手机中毒 OR 手机焦虑 OR 手机恐惧OR 手机游戏成瘾)) AND (M=(干预 OR 团体 OR 教育 OR 认知行为 OR 正念 OR 疗法 OR 治疗 OR 试验 OR 处方) OR R=(干预 OR 团体 OR 教育 OR 认知行为 OR 正念 OR 疗法 OR 治疗 OR 试验 OR 处方OR 训练OR 计划OR 研讨))

Snowball searches

We also conducted forward and backward ‘snowball’ searches of the 2 publications eligible for full-text review. This resulted in one additional study being included: Romualdas Malinauskas et al. [18] citing Ji-Hwan Shin et al. [27].

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Zhang, K., Lu, X., Zhang, X. et al. Effects of Psychological or Exercise Interventions on Problematic Mobile Phone Use: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Curr Addict Rep 10, 230–253 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-023-00471-w

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