Reconnected or disconnected? Secondary school students’ loneliness and problematic social media use following a total smartphone ban

An increasing number of schools worldwide are implementing smartphone bans, yet there is limited empirical research on their implications for various aspects of youth socio-emotional functioning. The current study examined changes in secondary school students’ social and emotional loneliness and problematic social media use (PSMU) following a total smartphone ban, and the extent to which these changes depended on students' initial levels of social avoidance and distress (SAD). Our sample included 982 students (Mage = 14.1) from two Dutch secondary schools implementing a total smartphone ban. Students completed questionnaires about loneliness, PSMU, and SAD before the ban (W1) and three months following the ban (W2). Data were analyzed using difference score and multiple regression analyses. Students used substantially less social media during school breaktimes post-ban compared to pre-ban. Further, we found a small mean-level increase in emotional loneliness from pre-ban to post-ban. While mean levels of social loneliness remained stable, higher baseline levels of SAD predicted increased social loneliness post-ban. There were no changes in PSMU at the mean level nor in relation to students’ baseline levels of SAD. Taken together, we did not find that a total smartphone ban alleviates secondary school students’ loneliness and problematic social media use in the short term. On the contrary, such a ban may entail an initial adjustment period and may not be a one-size-fits-all solution for improving students’ socio-emotional functioning.