Olivella Cirici, MarcSánchez-Ledesma, EstherContinente Garcia, Xavier, 1980-Clotas, CatriniPerez, Glòria2022-05-172022-05-172022Olivella-Cirici M, Sánchez-Ledesma E, Continente X, Clotas C, Perez G. Perceptions of the uses of cell phones and their impact on the health of early adolescents in Barcelona: a qualitative study. J Technol Behav Sci. 2022;7:130-40. DOI: 10.1007/s41347-021-00228-02366-5963http://hdl.handle.net/10230/53099The use of cell phones and video games has transformed rapidly in adolescents, posing a challenge for the scientific community. Using qualitative methodology and a socioconstructivist perspective, we identified perceptions and beliefs about the different uses of cell phones and video games and their relationship with the health and wellbeing of the adolescent population of Barcelona. From an analysis of discussion groups among early adolescents (n = 66 students aged 13–14 years, segmented by gender and socioeconomic level of the school neighborhood), information was obtained on (i) digital devices and their uses, (ii) the determinants of the uses of cell phones and video games, and (iii) the relationship between possible problematic uses and health and wellbeing. Responsible and problematic uses were identified. Problematic use was associated with compensation for social deficits and sometimes with dependency on the device. Differences were identified by gender (boys preferred video games and girls’ social networks). The adolescents were aware of the possible negative impacts on their health associated with problematic use of cell phones and video games and highlighted a lack of critical education in digital skills.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41347-021-00228-0Qualitative methodsCell phone useBehaviorAddictiveAdolescentMental healthHabitsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess