Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘SMARTPHONE ADDICTION’ IN 39% OF YOUNG ADULTS
Symptoms in more than a third
MORE than a third of under30s have symptoms of smartphone addiction, a study says.
Symptoms include losing control over time spent using a phone, distress when they can’t and neglecting other activities.
Researchers at King’s College
London found 39% of 1,043 people assessed met criteria for addiction, regardless of daily screen time.
Author Dr Nicola Kalk, addiction psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trust, said: “This study makes clear that it is features of behavioural addiction rather than exposure time that is predictive of smartphone-associated harm.”
Of those who said they had symptoms of addiction, 69% reported trouble sleeping, too.
But Andrew Przybylski, director of the Oxford Internet Institute, insisted the research “can say nothing about behaviours in the general population”.
AMANDA Mealing is to take a break from Casualty, after playing Connie Beauchamp for 18 years.
The character moved to the BBC medical drama in 2014, having debuted on Holby City in 2004.
Connie will take a “career break” after a rough few months in which her relationship with Jacob, played by Charles Venn, fell apart during the stress of the pandemic.
Her last appearance will be later this month.
Mealing, 53, said: “It has been the most remarkable privilege to play Connie.
“When she first hit our screens there were few female leads that weren’t ‘the wife of...’, ‘the mistress of...’ or needed ‘rescuing’.”
Head of Content Production Deborah Sathe said: “We look forward to welcoming her back.”