How Technology Influences Health
Technology is abundant and in frequent use constantly, and the adaptation of smartphone usage is highly prevalent. Most people walk around with their smartphones in quick access.
What you choose to use technology for can influence health status. Using technology as a helpful tool can provide information, social connection, ideas, tips, or inspiration for countless things. Technology can also provide negative mental spaces and addictive traits. Over usage of technology can create negative feelings for some, undermining self-esteem and motivations for other activities.
Understanding what is the best amount of technology usage for you personally is a great place to start, what ways can help to support the lifestyle you personally want, and how to use the easy access to information in a way that is supportive.
Technology Today
Living in the era of technology there are many useful, fun, and exciting technologies to utilize. Surfing the web for information, using smartphones for instant access, connecting with friends and family over video chats, gaming, etc. The question posed is often how does technology influence health, does it have a positive or negative effect on daily life, well-being, and human connection? The answer is not straightforward however, after many published studies the results seem to be very dependent on the person and their style of usage.
The past two years have amplified the need for connection, the pandemic has had a significant effect on how people keep in touch and communicate. Humans are social by nature and need support and care from others. During the pandemic usage of technology has been a marvelous gift for many, to provide contact and connection during times of distance. As the world transitions out of social isolation, there is an opportunity to connect outside the realm of only using technology.
Some of the benefits gained during the increased usage of technology during the past two years have been “that technology use may reduce loneliness by maintaining one’s social network and ameliorating the negative impact of prolonged isolation during COVID-19 (Liu and Kim, 2011; Li and Wang, 2020; Zhou et al., 2020; Gong et al., 2021) … decreased loneliness may protect one from negative coping behaviors” (Yang et al., 2021).
Negative aspects of prolonged use of digital technology have been seen as increased stress and “negative emotions (e.g., boredom) because it may increase repeated exposure to the stressful event and negative information related to the crisis and facilitate the spread and contagion of negative emotions (Fung et al., 2014; Kramer et al., 2014; Depoux et al., 2020)” (Yang et al., 2021). Rumination or obsession over interactions from social media or internet sites has been shown to deteriorate mental health and create a stressful mental atmosphere. “Although digital technology enables people to stay connected during COVID-19, protracted periods of isolation, crisis-induced stress, and technology-based activity may intensify problem technology use (PTU), such as social media addiction (SMA) and Internet gaming disorder (IGD)” (Yang et al., 2021).
Studies
Increased engagement with technology and online platforms has correlated with less engagement in other activities for specific subpopulations. In a study of children and younger people, the more time spent engaging online the lower their motivation and physical activity levels were. “This study showed that high use of technology was significantly associated with a low level of activity, children who spend <5 h each week on their devices tend to have higher levels of physical activity compared to those who spend >6 h” (Alotaibi et al., 2020).
It was also found that ownership of a device, screen time, as well as age of the child contributed to physical activity levels (Alotaibi et al., 2020). Suggestions for improvement were the creation of specific limitations and the reduction of screen time provided by the parents. For children and youths, it is especially important to have boundaries with the amount of time spent on screens, as well as the monitoring of content. This may be an easier task if the youth does not have their own device. “The great portability of smartphones results in the unique functional impairment characterized by distraction from the frequent, short-duration smartphone use” this means that it is so easy to constantly access information or engage with technology when it is always at our fingertips (Liu et al., 2016). “As the craving to use a smartphone can be easily satisfied, frequent smartphone use could be an indicator of addiction” (Liu et al., 2016).
Beneficial Health Concepts
Smartphone usage, however, can be used for beneficial health concepts. It is good practice to gather all the facts and notice what specific behaviors resonate for you as a person or your child. An interesting finding was that “regular social media users every day was associated with a reinforcement of health behaviors at both extremes of health behaviors” (Shimoga et al., 2019). An example of a beneficial usage could be following people or pages that genuinely spark joy, inspiration, creativity, or where you can find out more about specific interests.
Using social media as a tool for ideas to use in the outside world. Whereas some negative extremes would be viewing things that undermine positive feelings or cultivate feelings of discomfort, negative comparison, and eat away at self-esteem. These are ways that technology can negatively impact mental health and wellbeing. “Finding an optimal level of social media use that is beneficial to a variety of health behaviors would be most beneficial to” those “who are in the middle of the health behavior spectrum” this optimal level has been supportive of physical activity and impactful for the amount of nightly sleep a person has as well (Shimoga et al., 2019).
Supporting Health
Now that we’ve covered a little bit from the background of how the increased recent internet and social media usage could impact various people and ages, what are ways to use it to support health, and some ways to support health outside of technology? “The internet has become an important means through which people engage with health content; among US adults, well over half turn to the internet as a source of health information, and young adults — individuals in their late teens and twenties — report even higher levels of internet use for health” (Hunsaker et al., 2021).
Finding health information can be a beneficial way to learn and share ideas, using trusted sites or evidence/scientific based studies is important. Filtering out harmful vs helpful information can be confusing, look for properly cited or trusted research platforms, personal and private accounts can often be popular but the advice could potentially be harmful or unresearched.
Ways to utilize connection outside of technology is to first step outside, this may be a physical walk outside in nature or a metaphorical stepping outside the usual comfort zone in trying something new. For many people, anxieties have arrived after being socially disconnected for so long. Take small steps to become more comfortable engaging in activities. If someone is feeling they would prefer to be cautious, try some activities that are at a distance from others.
Even a meditative practice, where the phone is put away for a bit. Start to become more reliable on your sensations and feelings when the phone is put down. Another tip for limiting screen time is to take up a hobby or project that requires your attention and that you don’t mind putting technology devices away for a bit. Reading a book, working on a craft, enjoying a live performance, the possibilities are endless and could be whatever sparks joy for you.
Technology is a great tool to use, how you engage with technology and the relationship you have with it is up to you. Taking screen time breaks can often be a good reset, being mindful of how you feel or how much you engage with a screen can be a good indication of the relationship you share with technology. Your personal technology relationship will determine how it can positively or negatively affect your health.
In a study of older adults technology was used as a form of mental health support, “findings suggested that internet use was significantly associated with better mental health status for older Chinese residents, mediated by higher physical exercise frequency” (Zhang & Zhang, 2021). This is a great example of how to use technology as a tool to support other aspects of health. “Compared to traditional offline means of influencing the mental health of older adults, the internet created a more diversified, convenient, personalized, and innovative mental health protection channel by generating a massive flow of information to enrich the inner worlds of older adults and, thus, improve their mental health status” (Zhang & Zhang, 2021).
In conclusion, the usage of technology can have a major impact and influence on personal habits, health, and access to supportive or detrimental information. Creating awareness of personal habits surrounding the usage of technology and the capacity to which it influences health status is an important consideration. If there is an aspect that is starting to cause a negative influence in your life, try to notice and adjust so that there is more ease and balance. This could be limits of screen time, unfollowing certain accounts that bring up triggers or negative feelings, having breaks from technology, or choosing to engage with others in person more frequently. Remember, you know yourself best and can take control of your own health at any time, technology can be a great way to support your journey if chosen to be used as a helpful tool. Small steps towards the lifestyle you choose will yield the best outcome, there are no right or wrong answers that suit everyone.
Overall Tips
- Practice being aware or mindful of habits surrounding technology.
- Notice the amount of screen time being used, and set a timer or recap of the day to see habits more clearly.
- If you are a parent or caretaker help to set screen time limits and positive habits for adolescence or children.
- Use technology as a tool, ex. Finding out information you are curious about, video call a friend, etc. using technology in an intentional way can help limit use to just the beneficial aspects.
- Have times when you take a break from technology, whether this is just a few minutes, during meals, or for a longer period such as a day or two. Creating a reset can feel like a nice break and reconnection to the outside world.
- Take up an activity that requires your focus without the use of technology, ex. Reading a book, walking, a creative craft, physical activity
- Try to use social media to support what you enjoy or make you inspired, following people or pages that influence you positively, and unfollowing things that make you feel unhappy can be a way to adjust habits to support mental health.
- Shift your mindset about technology, how could you use this as something helpful or enjoyable rather than distracting from your health goals
For more overall health related topics, check out the Ate app.
References
Alotaibi, T., Almuhanna, R., Alhassan, J., Alqadhib, E., Mortada, E., & Alwhaibi, R. (2020). The Relationship between Technology Use and Physical Activity among Typically-Developing Children. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(4), 488. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040488
Hunsaker, A., Hargittai, E., & Micheli, M. (2021). Relationship Between Internet Use and Change in Health Status: Panel Study of Young Adults. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(1), e22051. https://doi.org/10.2196/22051
Liu, C. H., Lin, S. H., Pan, Y. C., & Lin, Y. H. (2016). Smartphone gaming and frequent use pattern associated with smartphone addiction. Medicine, 95(28), e4068. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000004068
Shimoga, S. V., Erlyana, E., & Rebello, V. (2019). Associations of Social Media Use With Physical Activity and Sleep Adequacy Among Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Survey. Journal of medical Internet research, 21(6), e14290. https://doi.org/10.2196/14290
Yang, X., Yip, B., Lee, E., Zhang, D., & Wong, S. (2021). The Relationship Between Technology Use and Problem Technology Use and Potential Psychosocial Mechanisms: Population-Based Telephone Survey in Community Adults During COVID-19. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 696271. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696271
Zhang, S., & Zhang, Y. (2021). The Relationship Between Internet Use and Mental Health Among Older Adults in China: The Mediating Role of Physical Exercise. Risk management and healthcare policy, 14, 4697–4708. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S338183
