The country in which 9 out of 10 young people need to have their cell phone in hand, in their pocket or "in sight"

The findings were revealed by a study applied during the coronavirus pandemic to young people between 18 and 35 years of age.

The confinements decreed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic have triggered the use of mobile phones in the youth population. A study carried out in Europe by the firm OnePoll for the mobile technology company OnePlus came to that conclusion, which set out to find out how the confinement has affected the use of cell phones in this population segment.

According to the results, seven out of ten young Europeans acknowledged that they have increased the use of the telephone since the beginning of confinement in 2020. 55% of young people in France claimed to have spent much more time using their smartphone during the health situation while in Italy the figure reached 56% and in Spain 51%.

Even, the report reveals that for many young people between 18 and 35 years these devices have become indispensable elements, rather than other aspects of their lives. More than 95% admit that they sleep with them in the same room and almost eight out of ten in Europe have it within reach at all times.

77% of those surveyed acknowledged that they cannot wait more than thirty minutes after waking up to check their mobile phone notifications.

In Spain, for example, 9 out of 10 young people (89%) assured that they always need to have their mobile phone in their hand, in their pocket or, at least, “in sight”.

Young British (32%) and Spanish (30%) were the ones with the highest rates of nomophobia, a condition that refers to the irrational fear of spending a period of time without a mobile phone. In addition, they confessed that they feel nervous if the device's battery begins to drain.

81% of Spaniards recognized that they suffer from anxiety, for this reason, only surpassed by young Italians with 82%. In fact, about 6% of those surveyed in Spain admitted that they charge their phone before the battery drops below 50%, while at a general European level, about 43% of those surveyed said that they charge their mobile phone at least twice a day. day.

Beer or cell phone?

The OnePoll company study also asked respondents if they would be willing to give up something rather than their mobile phones.

The results revealed that, rather than running out of their mobile phone, 46% of young people in Finland would be willing to give up alcoholic beverages first. Spaniards would also be willing to give up alcoholic beverages by 43%, for example, beer, wine, and drinks, while they could run out of snacks such as chips by 33% or give up the consumption of chocolate by 23% %.

In the case of the Dutch, 44% of those surveyed prefer to give up chocolate rather than their cell phone.

By including other variables in the analysis, the Spaniards showed that only 6% would give up sex and 3% would be willing to put aside their best friend for a mobile phone.

In these aspects, there were coincidences with other young Europeans, since only about 6% of Danes would prefer to leave their romantic partners before their mobile, while 13% of Finns would prefer to be left without their vehicle first.

In Germany, however, 4% said they would rather lose a kidney than their cell phone, while 31% of French people would give up their favorite series to spend more time on their cell phone.