Smartphones are everywhere you look; they are used by adults, teens, and even young children to text, call, search the internet, play games, and watch videos. They are amazing technology that can help people access the world around them, but they can also be a source of bad habits and behaviors leading to addiction. The popularity and availability of smartphones have increased in recent years; on average, smartphone use by adults is 5.4 hours a day, while use by teens and kids is 5.7 hours a day. With so many hours of each day being taken up by smartphone use, questions about addiction and adverse effects arise.

In the first study of its kind, scientists recently used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe the adverse health effects for those that use smartphones excessively. Results showed that those who displayed addictive tendencies toward their smartphones had less gray matter in their brains. This means there was less activity in the parts of their brains involved in muscle control, perception of senses like seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making, and self-control. This study was the first to question “the harmlessness of smartphones” and to show concrete evidence that there can be negative effects for those who meet the criteria for having a smartphone addiction.

If you’re not sure if you are addicted to your smartphone, ask yourself the following questions to gauge the time spent on your phone and your relationship with it:

If you answered “yes” to some or all of those questions, here are some ideas to curb your addictive behaviors toward your smartphone:

Both adults and children can experience addictive tendencies toward smartphones. However, adults must be a good example to teens and children for establishing healthy habits and reasonable phone usage. Teens and children need to decrease the average time spent on smartphones to not experience the negative health effects that may cause long-term damage.