Smartphones are a huge part of college students’ daily lives keeping them connected with family, friends and what’s happening across the globe.
A new study by Kent State researchers found those little hand-held devices could be to blame for anxiety, lower grades and reduced happiness.
More than 500 undergraduate students were surveyed about their daily cell phone use during the study.
Students were also asked about anxiety they felt and their level of satisfaction with their life or in other words happiness.
Researchers were also allowed to access participants’ grade point average (GPA).
They found cell phone use had a negative impact on a student’s GPA and also increased anxiety. GPA was positively related to happiness while anxiety was negatively related to happiness.
Researchers noted high frequency cell phone users tended to have lower GPA, higher anxiety, and lower satisfaction with life (happiness) relative to their peers who used the cell phone less often.
The new study is published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.