PhD Scientific Days 2025

Health Sciences III.

The Role of Mental Health in the Relationship between Smartphone Use and Cognitive Functions in Young Adults

Name of the presenter

Johanna Takács

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Faculty of Health Sciences, Semmelweis University

Authors

Johanna Takács¹, Beáta Seregély²

1: Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Semmelweis University
2: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Semmelweis University

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Smartphones have become the most widely used digital devices today. Daily smartphone usage among young adults is 98-99%. Smartphone use (SU) can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive functioning, considering individual differences such as how it is used and the users’ characteristics. We hypothesized that the long-term process type of SU is associated with poorer cognitive performance, and the relationship can be affected by the users’ mental health.
Aims: To study the relationship between SU and cognitive functions and mental health among young adults.
Methods: Young adults, university students (M=22.5±2.8 years) participated. Smartphone usage time (UT <5hrs/day, ≥5hrs/day) and type (social and process) were estimated. To assess mental health, sleep quality, self-control (SC), fear of missing out (FoMO), behavioural inhibition/activation system (BIS/BAS) and neuroticism were measured. Cognitive functions, attention (intrinsic alertness, divided attention, processing speed) and executive functions (cognitive flexibility, verbal working memory, response inhibition) were measured with the Vienna Test System Neuro, normalized for gender and age (percentile ranks, PR).
Results: UT showed a small effect on cognitive functions in response inhibition (r=0.16). A lower proportion of the <5hrs/day group performed below average (PR<25; 47.1%) than the ≥5hrs/day group (60%). Cognitive functioning differed significantly in the types of SU, with a moderate effect on processing speed (Z=-2.465, p=0.014, r=0.38). The below-average cognitive performance (PR<25) were more frequent in the process group (60%) compared to social users (28.6%). Users with below-average cognitive performance with ≥5hrs/day and process SU showed poorer mental health. In particular, these users had a lower level of SC (p=0.016) and a higher level of FoMO (p=0.033) and BAS (p=0.040) than social users.
Conclusions: ≥5hrs/day of SU can lead to poorer cognitive performance in young adults, especially among process users. Moreover, the users’ mental health should be considered, which can also affect the relationship between smartphone use and cognitive functioning.
Funding: Supported by the University Research Scholarship Programme EKÖP-2024-151; TKP2021-EGA-25 of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation, National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.