The Use Of Wearable Technology Is Not Related To Anxiety Or Cognitive Restraint

In a worldwide survey published by ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, wearable technology has been a top fitness trend since 2016, specifically the #1 reported trend in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Health-tracking behavior can sometimes go too far and become unhealthy if someone is continually increasing exercise goals. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if using wearable technology is associated with higher anxiety or disordered eating behaviors. METHODS: This is a secondary data analysis of a previous study designed to assess the relationship between using wearable technology and health/fitness apps and outcomes related to health, fitness, sleep, and psychological well-being. A total of 754 participants were recruited from multiple colleges/universities in the United States. Participants were recruited via flyers, emails, Facebook posts, and Amazon mTurk. The participants were split into two groups, non-wearable tech (non-WT) and wearable tech (WT) groups, based on the self-indication of utilizing wearable technology. Outcomes included anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7), cognitive restraint (Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire), and sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire). Mann Whitney U was used to analyze differences between groups. RESULTS: The WT group was significantly older than the non-WT group (21.4 ± 0.2 vs 20.5 ± 0.1 years, p < 0.05). The Body Mass Index was similar (p > 0.05) between the WT and non-WT group (24.7 ± 0.3 and 24.4 ± 0.3 kg/m2, respectively). The WT group had a greater (p < 0.05) proportion of females (58.4%) compared to the non-WT group (41.6%). The GAD-7 revealed that 36%, 27%, 21%, and 15% had minimal anxiety, mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety respectively. The WT group and the non-WT group had similar anxiety (p = 0.465), cognitive restraint (p = 0.727), and sleep scores (p = 0.629). CONCLUSION: Using wearable technology was not related to anxiety or cognitive restraint. Future research should examine high risk populations (high risk for anxiety disorders or eating disorders) and see if wearable technology is associated with concerning behaviors.