Weak link between depression and frequent smartphone use "Smartphone behaviour 'could diagnose depression' says new scientific study," the Daily Mirror reports. But based on the data presented in the study the paper is reporting on, we would disagree.
The story was prompted by a small US study of adults who agreed to have a freeware app – Purple Robot – installed on their phone. The app tracks phone usage and physical movement via GPS.
Researchers found people who reported
depressive symptoms used their phone more often, visited fewer locations, and spent more time at home than the group of people who did not have symptoms of depression.
The results should not be taken too seriously as these two groups of people were not matched, so other factors could have influenced the results
(confounders).
A major factor that was not accounted for was whether any of the people involved in the study were employed, the nature of the employment, or whether they were looking after children or caring for someone. This would have had a major impact on their phone use and the amount of time they spent going out to different places.
Other factors commonly taken into account but not included in this study are a history of mental health problems, age, sex and any medical or psychiatric conditions.
In short, this study does not show smartphone use can diagnose depression.