Are Smartphones Stress-inducing or Stress-buffering for Adolescents? An Experience Sampling Study

Bibliographic Data

ID19224355
AuthorsMichaela Lebedíková (0000-0003-0493-1286, Masaryk University, corresponding author), David Lacko (0000-0002-2904-8118, Masaryk University), Ine Beyens (0000-0001-7023-867X, University of Amsterdam), David Smahel (0000-0003-2767-4331, Masaryk University)
Year2025
Publication date2025-01-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448261438432
OpenAlexW4406537902
LanguageEN
References cited47

Despite the far-reaching impact of stress on overall well-being, current research offers little information on whether smartphone use is stress-inducing or stress-buffering for adolescents. Building on the transactional theory of stress, this study is the first to address the effect of smartphone use on perceived stress in adolescents (17,152 observations, N=184, 13-17 years old) with an experience sampling design combined with trace data. Our results show that smartphone use is stress-inducing for approximately 20% of our sample. There were no adolescents for whom using smartphones is stress-buffering. The results point to the importance of smartphone usage patterns besides the time spent using smartphones. Furthermore, the results also provide evidence for recent scholarship, arguing that media effects are not universal and that adolescents cannot be regarded as a homogenous group. Our work has important implications for future research, as well as for parents and educators

Experience sampling method · Stress (linguistics) · Applied Psychology · Child Development and Digital Technology · Clinical Psychology · Computer Science · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access