Daily cycle links smartphone use and disconnection in first-year students
Feb 28th 2026
A month-long daily diary study published in Addictive Behaviors found that day-to-day spikes in smartphone use and feelings of disengagement predict each other, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that may worsen distraction over time.
- The study tracked 104 first-year undergraduates in China over 30 days using evening self-report surveys.