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by Anna Sandner
That's why it's so hard to put your smartphone down
13.5.2026
Translation: machine translated
Scrolling for hours on end is part of everyday life for many people. Psychologists decipher how feelings, habits and a lack of self-control keep us stuck in the digital maelstrom.
You just wanted to check your watch for a moment - and get lost in endless scrolling through feeds or reels. This can become a burden and have consequences for mental health, everyday life and relationships with others. Researchers led by psychologist Matthias Brand from the University of Duisburg have investigated why it is so difficult to detach oneself from the screen.
For the study, which was published in the journal «Comprehensive Psychiatry», they asked more than 800 people to enter the laboratory. The aim was to test a theoretical model for the development of behavioural addictions. The study lasted around five hours and included interviews (for example on media consumption and mental health) as well as various tasks on the computer, for example a test on impulse control, in which you are supposed to react to certain stimuli while ignoring others. There was also a follow-up survey six months later.
Feelings, habits and self-control
According to the results, there are three main mechanisms that drive and maintain problematic internet use. Firstly, the desire to feel better or less bad. Secondly, an inner compulsion to go online. And thirdly, difficulties in stopping the behaviour.
«We were able to show empirically for the first time that these three pathways work together», says Matthias Brand in a press release. The decisive factor is the interplay of emotions, habits and self-control. Together, the affective and cognitive mechanisms were able to explain 63.5 per cent of the symptoms of problematic internet use at the time of the study and 42 per cent of the symptoms after six months - and therefore predict both current and future symptoms.
As the researchers go on to explain, those affected turn to the internet to escape stress and unpleasant feelings. This unfavourable strategy is automated, i.e. the use of smartphones happens incidentally, without much thought. A high degree of automatisation was associated with increased impulsivity in the objective tests, for example.
In addition, those affected develop an intense psychological craving for consumption as well as the feeling of not being able to control or stop their behaviour. The latter was associated with reduced self-control in the objective tests, for example.
Problematic media consumption and Internet use disorders are a growing problem for society and individuals. A deeper understanding of the causes of the behaviour is crucial in order to be able to prevent and help effectively.
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Header image: Shutterstock / Gorodenkoff
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