About the Smartphone Addiction Scale
The Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV) was developed by Min Kwon and colleagues and published in PLOS ONE in 2013. Its ten items cover daily-life disturbance, withdrawal, preoccupation, overuse and tolerance. It’s been translated and tested in many countries, including a German-language validation with young people in Switzerland.
Each statement scores from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree), so totals run from 10 to 60. In the original study of adolescents, 31 or more for boys and 33 or more for girls marked a high risk of smartphone addiction. We’ve kept the scale and its scoring, and reworded the items as plain first-person statements (one item named Twitter and Facebook; it now says social media and group chats).
What helps if your score is high
- Find your real number. Look up your daily average in Screen Time, then run it through the screen time calculator.
- Make the pull apps harder to open. Delete them from your home screen, set time limits, or block them outright. See how to block apps on iPhone.
- Protect two times of day: the first hour after waking and the last hour before sleep. Charge your phone outside the bedroom.
- Replace, don’t just remove. Decide what you’ll do instead in the moments you usually scroll.
Questions
What is a normal SAS-SV score?
In the original study, scores below 31 (boys) or 33 (girls) were below the high-risk cut-off. There’s no single “normal”, and adult norms vary by country and study.
Is phone addiction a real diagnosis?
No. Neither ICD-11 nor DSM-5 lists smartphone addiction. ICD-11 does include gaming disorder, and researchers study problematic smartphone use as a behavior pattern.
How many hours of screen time a day is too much?
There’s no agreed limit for adults. What matters more is what it replaces (sleep, work, people, exercise) and whether you can cut back when you decide to.
Are my answers saved?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent.
Sources
- Kwon, M., Kim, D.-J., Cho, H. & Yang, S. (2013). The Smartphone Addiction Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents. PLOS ONE 8(12): e83558
- Haug, S. et al. (2015). Smartphone use and smartphone addiction among young people in Switzerland. Journal of Behavioral Addictions 4(4), 299–307
General information, not medical or psychological advice. If you’re struggling, talk to a doctor, a therapist or one of the helplines on our responsible use page.