Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking
Published on: April 30, 2020
When Digital Connectivity Drivers Meet Digital Disconnection: A Cross-Country Study on Smartphone Checking, Digital
1Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
In today's digitized societies, where constant connectivity is perceived as a social norm, many people voluntarily seek temporary digital disconnection to balance out benefits and harms. Given that any direct effectiveness of digital disconnection is limited, recent approaches emphasized its conditionality. Conducted in two culturally dissimilar countries (the United States and Indonesia), the present large-scale cross-sectional youth surveys (Ns = 1,922 and 2,107, respectively) explored whether different popular feature- and rules-based digital disconnection strategies (digital detox app use vs. reflective smartphone disengagement vs. digital solitude) may serve as an ambivalent moderator for relationships between habitual and compulsive smartphone checking, on one side, and digital stress experiences, on the other. For U.S. youth only, results indeed suggested that reflective smartphone disengagement might minimize detrimental side effects of firm checking habits, whereas it exacerbates links to digital stress for people who struggle with smartphone checking compulsiveness.
Related Concept Videos
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Types of Stressors
Catastrophes
Catastrophes refer to large-scale, unpredictable events that create overwhelming stress and a sense of threat. Examples include natural disasters like...
Stress
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques V
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Design Example

