Dialled In: Exploring the relationship between mobile phone use, substance use, gambling, and mental health
Tracks
Prince Room - In-Person & Virtual
| Thursday, May 28, 2026 |
| 10:15 AM - 10:35 AM |
Overview
Nicholas Kerswell, Lives Well Lived
Details
Three Key Learnings
1. Digital involvement plays a clinically relevant role in AOD treatment.: High levels of mobile phone use—particularly for emotion regulation or distraction—are common among clients and correlate with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms, impulsivity, and behavioural risk.
2. Mobile phone use may reflect behavioural substitution or avoidance: Early findings suggest that digital engagement can serve as a replacement for substance use or as an avoidance mechanism, underscoring the need to address digital behaviours as part of holistic recovery planning.
3. Integrating digital-behaviour measures enhances outcome frameworks: Linking validated digital-use scales with standardised AOD outcome measures (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7, S-UPPS, PGSI) offers a novel, data-driven way to inform digital-wellbeing interventions and guide ethical technology use in treatment contexts.
1. Digital involvement plays a clinically relevant role in AOD treatment.: High levels of mobile phone use—particularly for emotion regulation or distraction—are common among clients and correlate with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms, impulsivity, and behavioural risk.
2. Mobile phone use may reflect behavioural substitution or avoidance: Early findings suggest that digital engagement can serve as a replacement for substance use or as an avoidance mechanism, underscoring the need to address digital behaviours as part of holistic recovery planning.
3. Integrating digital-behaviour measures enhances outcome frameworks: Linking validated digital-use scales with standardised AOD outcome measures (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7, S-UPPS, PGSI) offers a novel, data-driven way to inform digital-wellbeing interventions and guide ethical technology use in treatment contexts.
Speaker
Dr Nick Kerswell
Clinical Implementation Specilaist
Lives Lived Well
Dialled In: Exploring the relationship between mobile phone use, substance use, gambling, and mental health
Abstract
Background: Mobile phones have become integral to daily life; however, constant online connectivity can reinforce unhelpful patterns of use. Emerging evidence indicates that problematic digital involvement is associated with greater impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and behavioural addiction. Within alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment contexts, these dynamics remain largely unexplored despite clear clinical relevance. Dialled In examines the relationship between mobile phone involvement and key indicators of mental health, impulsivity, and behavioural risk among clients of Lives Lived Well (LLW), an Australian AOD service provider.
Method: A mixed-methods design combines staff and client interviews/focus groups with a large-scale quantitative survey. The survey integrates validated measures, including the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), Self-Identity Scale (Mobile Phone), Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire–Short Form (PIUQ-SF-6), and mobile Single-Item Gambling Screen (m-SIGS) alongside demographic and behavioural items. This data will be linked with LLW’s comprehensive baseline outcome measures (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-ASSIST, ATOP, S-UPPS, PGSI) for correlational and between-group analyses.
Results: Preliminary descriptive data indicate substantial variability in daily phone use, with most clients reporting moderate to high levels of connectivity and frequent use for emotional regulation or distraction. Early trends suggest higher mobile phone involvement is associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, greater impulsivity (particularly negative urgency) and higher scores on gambling and substance involvement measures. Planned analyses will further explore these profiles and their relationships with substance use severity and wellbeing outcome.
Conclusions: By integrating digital-behaviour measures with a comprehensive outcome-measurement framework, Dialled In provides a pioneering analysis of mobile phone involvement in an Australian AOD population. Findings will inform digital-wellbeing interventions, contribute to understanding behavioural substitution and avoidance in recovery, and guide the ethical integration of technology into treatment settings.
Method: A mixed-methods design combines staff and client interviews/focus groups with a large-scale quantitative survey. The survey integrates validated measures, including the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), Self-Identity Scale (Mobile Phone), Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire–Short Form (PIUQ-SF-6), and mobile Single-Item Gambling Screen (m-SIGS) alongside demographic and behavioural items. This data will be linked with LLW’s comprehensive baseline outcome measures (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-ASSIST, ATOP, S-UPPS, PGSI) for correlational and between-group analyses.
Results: Preliminary descriptive data indicate substantial variability in daily phone use, with most clients reporting moderate to high levels of connectivity and frequent use for emotional regulation or distraction. Early trends suggest higher mobile phone involvement is associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, greater impulsivity (particularly negative urgency) and higher scores on gambling and substance involvement measures. Planned analyses will further explore these profiles and their relationships with substance use severity and wellbeing outcome.
Conclusions: By integrating digital-behaviour measures with a comprehensive outcome-measurement framework, Dialled In provides a pioneering analysis of mobile phone involvement in an Australian AOD population. Findings will inform digital-wellbeing interventions, contribute to understanding behavioural substitution and avoidance in recovery, and guide the ethical integration of technology into treatment settings.
Biography
Nick is a clinical psychologist and board approved supervisor with experience across diverse settings in mental health and AOD clinical work. His doctoral research focused on the assessment and treatment of trauma, work which has continued with the UQ LLW Research Group and Lives Lived Well. As chair of the Research Working Group, he coordinates research activity across LLW and ensures contemporary evidence-based practice is reflected in LLW’s clinical practices. Nick is also a frequent contributor to organisational learning and training activities, and a facilitator of several implementation projects including First Step, Red Dust Healing, and Cognitive Processing Therapy.
