Using the cell phone less than 2 hours improves mental health, according to Austrian researchers

Reducing the use of mobile phone less than two hours a day improves mental health, concludes a study from the Danube University of Krems (near Vienna).

The research results, recently published in BMC Medicine magazine, are «clear,» says the aforementioned University in a statement issued on Wednesday.

«For the first time we could demonstrate a causal relationship between the use of smartphones and mental health,» says the head of the research team, Christoph Pieh.

The study divided the participants into two groups and while the first reduced the use of the mobile at a maximum of two hours a day, the second maintained its usual use, of an average of four and a half hours a day.

Three weeks later, participants who had not spent more than two hours with the phone showed a decrease in depressive symptoms by 27 % and stress by 16 %, while sleep quality increased by 18 % and general well -being improved by 14 %.

The professor recommended not being in front of a screen for more than two hours, although he acknowledged that it is difficult to meet.

The positive effects of using less the phone are not of duration if they are not maintained: after the trial, the participants increased the time they spend in front of screens, so the psychological symptoms worsened.

«The challenge does not consist only of the reduction, but also in the sustainable change of use behavior,» Pieh concluded. EFE