Introduction: Smartphones have become an integral part of life, impacting many domains of mental health. Although they have made life easier, overuse of smartphones has been linked to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and stress. In the current study, we tried to find out the association between smartphone usage and psychological distress as measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 scale. The main aim was to study the relationship between smartphone usage and psychological distress of individuals. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included high smartphone users (≥32) and low smartphone users. For females, high smartphone usage was, however, associated with a lower risk of moderate/severe depression ( P = 0.0038) on subgroup analysis. There was no correlation between anxiety and smartphone usage ( P = 0.325), indicating other factors were responsible for anxiety more than screen time. Results: Smartphone usage did not correlate significantly with stress level ( P = 0.126) suggesting that external contributors such as academic workload and lifestyle habits may play a larger role in stress. Conclusion: Smartphone use is not a significant predictor of psychological distress. Although there were some small observed trends, the findings indicate that multiple factors beyond screen time, including sleep quality, digital engagement and lifestyle choices, influence mental health outcomes.
Kumbhar et al. (2026) studied this question.