Feb 21, 2025 12:30:00

Blocking internet access on smartphones increases happiness and improves attention span

Modern people are constantly accessing the Internet through their smartphones and PCs, and many of them end up browsing social media or video sites on their smartphones whenever they have free time. In a new study, a study was conducted in which subjects were given Internet access from their smartphones, and various benefits were confirmed, including improved mental health, increased happiness, and increased attention.

Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being | PNAS Nexus | Oxford Academic

https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/2/pgaf017/8016017

Want better focus and a happier mind? This simple smartphone change could be the answer
https://www.psypost.org/want-better-focus-and-a-happier-mind-this-simple-smartphone-change-could-be-the-answer/

In today's world, where most people carry their smartphones with them at all times, it has become commonplace to connect to the Internet via smartphones for several hours a day, sometimes even more than 10 hours. A 2022 survey also found that about 60% of smartphone users living in the United States, and about 80% of those under the age of 30, feel that they are 'overly dependent' on their smartphones.

While smartphones have many benefits, in recent years there have been concerns about the potential negative effects of internet use on the mind and emotions, and so there has been growing interest in ' digital detox ,' which involves staying away from the internet and digital devices.

In fact, previous studies that have examined the relationship between smartphone use and happiness have reported that heavy smartphone use is associated with 'decreased subjective happiness,' 'increased mental health problems,' and 'decreased attention span.' However, most previous studies have focused on correlations, and direct causal relationships are unclear.

So a research team from the US and Canada conducted an experiment in which subjects were actually asked to limit their access to the internet on their smartphones to see how this affected their happiness, mental health and attention.

A total of 467 subjects from the United States and Canada were recruited for the month-long experiment. All subjects were iPhone users, as the app '

Freedom ' used to restrict the subjects' Internet access was only available for iOS. The average age of the subjects was 32 years old, 63% were female, and they included people with various educational backgrounds and ethnic identities, as well as students, part-time workers, and full-time workers.

The experiment used a randomized controlled trial , which is effective in investigating causal relationships, and subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: an 'intervention group' and a 'delayed intervention group.' Both groups used smartphones normally before the start of the experiment, and the intervention group's smartphone access to the Internet was blocked for two weeks from the start of the experiment, while the delayed intervention group continued to access the Internet as before during that period. After two weeks, the intervention group was able to access the Internet from their smartphones again, and this time the delayed intervention group's smartphone access to the Internet was blocked for two weeks.

The research team measured the subjects' subjective well-being, mental health, and attention at three points: at the start of the study, after the first two weeks of the intervention, and after the second two weeks of the intervention (four weeks after the start of the experiment). They also investigated subjects' social connections, self-control, how they spent their time during the experiment, how much sleep they got, their level of ' Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) ,' and ADHD symptoms.

This design allowed the research team to compare the effects of blocking smartphone internet access within the same individuals, as well as to measure the impact after internet access was restored. The subjects were still able to use basic smartphone functions, such as text messaging and calling, and were able to access the internet from other devices, including PCs.

The key point in this experiment is that 'Freedom allowed us to objectively measure whether the subjects really complied with the Internet access block.' Freedom automatically recorded whether the Internet block was enabled on the subjects' devices during the experiment and tracked how well the subjects complied with the instructions.

The results of the experiment showed that blocking internet access from smartphones for two weeks had a positive effect on several aspects of psychological functioning, despite participants still being able to access the internet on their PCs or tablets.

Participants in the intervention group who had their internet access blocked for the first two weeks showed significant improvements in their subjective well-being and mental health during the blockage period. These improvements were observed in the form of increases in positive emotions and life satisfaction, and decreases in anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. Participants in the delayed intervention group also showed improvements in well-being and mental health during the last two weeks of their internet access blockage.

In terms of attention, both groups showed improvements in their ability to maintain attention during each internet block, as measured by objective attention tasks, and in terms of subjective attention, participants reported fewer lapses and more attention when internet access was blocked.

Interestingly, although the impact on happiness and mental health decreased in the intervention group once the internet blockade was lifted, happiness still remained significantly higher than at the start of the study, and the subjective perception of increased attention also persisted after internet access was restored.

The graph below shows the change in 'ability to maintain attention' (left), 'mental health' (center), and 'subjective well-being' (right) at each point in the survey, with the blue line representing the intervention group and the red line representing the delayed intervention group. We can see that all items improved when internet access from smartphones was blocked, and that the intervention group continued to show improvements from the start even after the blockage period ended.

To understand the mechanisms behind these positive changes, the team also looked at potential mediating factors, finding that the benefits of improved happiness, mental health, and attention could be explained in part by how participants spent their time while they were unable to access the internet via their smartphones.

Specifically, participants increased their time engaged in offline activities such as face-to-face interactions, exercise, and spending time in nature while their internet access was blocked, and reduced their media consumption instead. These changes in time-use patterns were the drivers of positive change. Increased social connections, increased self-control, and slight improvements in sleep also contributed to the positive change.

The team also investigated whether participants' individual characteristics influenced the effectiveness of internet blocking. They found that people who reported higher levels of 'FOMO' at the start of the study experienced greater improvements in their subjective well-being and mental health after blocking their smartphones' internet access. Similarly, people who reported more ADHD symptoms at the start of the study experienced improved attention after internet blocking.

In this study, only 25% of participants completely blocked smartphone internet access during the two-week intervention period, but the large overall positive effect was still observed, suggesting that even a partial reduction in smartphone internet access can have a beneficial effect.

'Smartphones have dramatically changed our lives and behaviors over the past 15 years, but fundamental human psychology remains the same,' said Adrian Ward, co-author of the paper and associate professor of technology and human interactions at the University of Texas at Austin. 'Our big question was whether people have adapted to deal with constant internet connectivity. The data suggests that we haven't.'

PsyPost, a psychology media outlet, argues that future studies can explore the long-term effects of mobile internet restrictions to expand on these findings, as well as to study differences across different populations and online activities. 'Investigating more deeply the specific mechanisms by which reduced mobile internet use improves happiness and attention will deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between our digital habits and mental health,' it said.