Smartphones and disengagement form a self-reinforcing cycle among freshmen, study shows

A 30‑day daily diary study of 104 first‑year Chinese college students finds that more smartphone use on one day predicts higher disengagement the next day, and greater disengagement predicts more phone use the following day, creating a bidirectional snowball that can erode focus. The authors suggest replacing scrolling with meaningful offline activities to break the cycle, though the study relies on self‑reported data and is limited to Chinese freshmen.