AUTHOR=Popescu Alexandrina-Mihaela , Balica Raluca-Ștefania , Lazăr Emil , Bușu Valentin Oprea , Vașcu Janina-Elena 

TITLE=Smartphone addiction risk, technology-related behaviors and attitudes, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.997253

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.997253

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=By impacting health and well-being, the COVID-19 crisis has contributed to smartphone addiction. We carried out a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest throughout June 2022, with search terms including “smartphone addiction + COVID-19” + “stress,” “anxiety,” “depression,”, “psychological distress,” “screen time,” and “fear.” As we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022, 288 papers met the eligibility criteria. By excluding sources with similar titles, having unclear findings or unsupported by replication, or displaying inconsistent content, we selected 64, mainly empirical, sources. We used layout algorithms (VOSviewer) and bibliometric mapping (Dimensions) as data visualization tools. AMSTAR, Distiller SR, MMAT, and SRDR were employed as methodological quality assessment tools. As limitations, we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022 in scholarly outlets indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases. The scope of our study also does not advance the inspection of sources covering vulnerable individuals suffering from certain diseases or specific generations. Subsequent analyses should develop on smartphone use and addiction among children and adolescents. Future research should thus investigate problematic smartphone use and addiction across generations Z and Alpha. Attention should be directed to their personality traits and psychopathological symptoms.