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Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest

The Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest brings together addiction and mental health service providers, researchers and subject matter experts in the fields of gambling, technology/Internet use and video gaming to collaborate and share knowledge on emerging trends and clinical best practices.

Tagged With "phones"

Discussion Topic

CBC News Article: Tech companies encourage us to be smart about phones

Registered Member ·
This newly released CBC News article discusses new Smartphone management tools that enable users to get daily and weekly activity reports about the total time they spend in each app, their usage and notifications as well as the ability for parents to put controls on usage. Featured in the article, @Registered Member points out that this may be one avenue to help reduce or minimize Smartphone use but that there are also other options such as turning off notifications and scheduling...
Discussion Topic

The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains

Registered Member ·
The National Institutes of Health are currently conducting a study on over 11,000 children to look at the long-term effects of screen time. Preliminary findings show that children who use screens for more than 2 hours a day score lower on language and thinking skills. It will be interesting to see what else is uncovered as this study continues, including whether changes are dependent on what the screen is being used for and/or on the child's developmental stage. Read the full article here .
Discussion Topic

Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
Researchers at the University of Washington conducted in-depth interviews to learn why we compulsively check our phones. They found a series of triggers, common across age groups, that start and end habitual smartphone use. In general, interviewees (n=39) had four common triggers for starting to compulsively use their phones: During unoccupied moments, like waiting for a friend to show up, Before or during tedious and repetitive tasks When in socially awkward situations When they anticipated...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains

Registered Member ·
It will be interesting to see if they control for things like income and other social determinants of health. I have a sense that it might be more likely for parents with fewer resources to use the phone/TV as a coping strategy, especially if they don't have as much support as other more affluent parents.
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains

Registered Member ·
Hi Nimira, You make an excellent point. Another thing to consider, on the opposite spectrum, is that many middle class to upper class schools now utilize tablets and laptops as part of the school curriculum. Does the content matter? Or is it just screen time. I wonder if the added family resources outside of school, that may support vacations, hobbies and sports (events away from screen time) and resources that support enhanced learning, is large enough to combat the effects of increased...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains

Registered Member ·
I was just about to say that Aaron! Content matters! This has been an ongoing debate and I'm afraid I'm on the pro-screen time. I find these studies skewed... "If you give a child an app where they play with virtual Legos, virtual blocks, and stack them, and then put real blocks in front of them, they start all over," Why would you test block-building capacity and say this skill isn't transferable when using real blocks? Seems pretty obvious. I'm sure if you tested for non gross motor skills...
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Re: CBC News Article: Tech companies encourage us to be smart about phones

Registered Member ·
Thanks for sharing, Matt! Just to add to this discussion - an article published yesterday in TechCrunch announces that Facebook and Instragram's new "digital well-being screen-time management dashboards" have been launched in the US. This dashboard shows how many minutes people use each of these apps per day and their average use in a week. It also allows users to mute notifications and set daily usage limits, after which a notification will come up to say they have surpassed the limit. What...
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
I relate to all of these. Especially while waiting for someone.
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
Yes, I too relate. I seem to do it more when I am bored or feeling down.
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
I wonder if this upcoming publication/poster will also address how the development of problem technology use relates to these triggers (for instance, is there an absence of "end" triggers?).
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
This makes sense -- next time you're at a bus stop (or riding public transit), take a look around -- I guarantee that more than 50% are looking at their phones. This doesn't mean that Millennials or "kids these days" are bad or lazy or self-absorbed. Rather, it means that smartphone manufacturers and app developers have tapped into two previously-unknown parts of the human condition: a) the overwhelming urge to avoid the discomfort of "waiting", and b) the desire to be left alone in public.
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
One year ago today, while ill and in quarantine for weeks, after returning from a vacation quite ill, I found myself becoming far too dependent on my phone because I felt so isolated. And I realized that this wasn't the beginning of my phone dependency. Through the years my son was struggling through the toughest part of his video gaming addiction recovery, I continually checked my phone for messages from him. He needed a lot of support. And I was never far from my phone. It was during that...
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Re: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit

Registered Member ·
Thanks for sharing that Elaine! I need to watch how much time I'm on my cell phone. When my 'smart phone' tells me how many hours I've been on a week I get a wake up call!
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Re: CBC News Article: Tech companies encourage us to be smart about phones

Registered Member ·
Thanks for sharing this article, Tiffany. I think tracking and monitoring usage is a good first step to increasing self awareness around the possibility of over-usage and can allow people to start questioning whether their level of use is causing problems at all. There are also other apps (e.g., Rescue Time, Cold Turkey, Self Control, etc.) that help capture this info and/or allow users to block certain websites to help minimize use.
Event

Breaking Up with Your Phone

Discussion Topic

"Why Your Phone is Making You Sad"

Registered Member ·
This was an interesting video I came across recently. I'm working in the field of Problem Gambling & Tech Use, and this is particularly related to problem tech use - primarily using their phone. It shares some emerging trends in how much people use their phones, what might qualify as an addiction, and also some helpful evidence-based strategies to try for people who may have problems with their phone use. This is a video I may consider sharing with my clients with problematic phone use.
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Re: "Why Your Phone is Making You Sad"

Registered Member ·
This definitely seems like a good, engaging way to provide some psychoeducation and start a conversation around change with clients! Thanks for sharing
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