Differences in Reward Sensitivity between High and Low Problematic Smartphone Use Adolescents: An ERP Study.

Xinmei Deng,Lin Zhang,Qiufeng Gao,Lijun Hu,Xiangyu Bu,Yanzhen Li

doi:10.3390/ijerph18189603

Abstract

Background: Problematic smartphone use is highly prevalent in adolescent populations compared to other age groups (e.g., adults and young children). Previous studies suggested that higher levels of reward sensitivity were associated with problematic smartphone use. Therefore, the current study investigated the neural processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedbacks between high and low problematic smartphone use adolescents. Methods: 46 adolescents participated in the current study and they were categorized into two groups based on their level of problematic smartphone use: those who obtained low scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as Low Problematic Smartphone Use (LPSU), and those who obtained high scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as High Problematic Smartphone Use (HPSU). Electrocortical activities were recorded during the processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedback. Results: (1) LPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social punishment condition than in the monetary punishment condition. HPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social reward condition than in the monetary condition. (2) The feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitudes in the reward condition were significantly larger than those in the punishment condition. (3) HPSUs induced larger reward positivity in social feedback conditions than in monetary feedback conditions, while there were no significant differences between the two types of conditions in the LPSUs. Discussion: The results provide neural underpinning evidence that high sensitivity to social rewards may be related to problematic smartphone use in adolescence.

Highlights

Adolescence characterizes increasing demands of creating social connections, mainly due to heightened autonomy and independence [1]
The present study investigated how problematic smartphone use is related to electrocortical activities during the processing of monetary and social rewards and punishment feedbacks between adolescents with high and low problematic smartphone use
We found that High Problematic Smartphone Use (HPSU) evoked larger P3 in the social reward condition than in the monetary condition compared to Low Problematic Smartphone Use (LPSU), suggesting larger sensitivity differences to reward versus punishment in the HPSUs compared to the LPSUs

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence characterizes increasing demands of creating social connections, mainly due to heightened autonomy and independence [1]. Evidence from several countries showed that the proportion of problematic smartphone users among adolescents was more than 20% [3]. Previous studies often conceptualized problematic smartphone use as the excessive and compulsive use of smartphones, with social or occupational impairment, including dependence and symptoms seen in addictive disorders, such as withdrawal and tolerance [4]. Problematic smartphone use leads to psychiatric and psychological difficulties in adolescents, such as nomophobia, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem [5,6,7]. What causes this problematic smartphone use and how to diminish the overuse of smartphones in teenagers have been widely addressed by parents, educators, and researchers

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion