Are smartphone dependence symptoms related to FoMO, craving and withdrawal symptoms during smartphone abstinence? Findings from a natural experiment

Background and aims: Adding to the ongoing discussion about the concept of behavioral addictions (Rosenburg & Feder, 2014), the present study tested whether or not individuals high on symptoms of smartphone addiction experience more craving and more withdrawal symptoms during a period of smartphone abstinence than those low on these symptoms. In addition, the role of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) during abstinence was studied. Methods: A natural experiment was conducted among 799 visitors (32% male) of a music festival who filled out a pre­test questionnaire on symptoms of smartphone addiction, and who volunteered to go offline for at least 3 hours during the festival. If visitors agreed to go offline, they had to put their smartphone on the flight mode and the screen of their smartphone was made invisible by a seal. After at least 3 hours of smartphone abstinence, participants had to visit a specific counter to have the seal professionally removed and to fill out the post­test questionnaire (n = 470, 59% response). In addition, a subgroup of offline festival visitors was interviewed about FoMO during abstinence (n = 153). Results: As expected, visitors who pre-test reported more symptoms of smartphone addiction also reported more withdrawal symptoms and more craving at the end of three hours of smartphone abstinence (post-test). Also, those with more symptoms reported more FoMO during abstinence. Conclusions: The findings of this natural experiment support the idea that individuals high on psychological symptoms of smartphone addiction also experience more physical symptoms of addiction during abstinence, and that FoMO may be one of the driving mechanisms behind smartphone addiction symptoms.