Addiction to New Technologies in Adolescents and Young People: Is Phubbing a New Digital Pandemic?

The new information and communication technologies (e.g., cell phones or tablets) have generated notable benefits, such as being more connected, more democratic access to knowledge, and greater diversity in entertainment. However, they have also given rise to negative behaviors, such as cyberbullying, trolling, or grooming, among others. Another very frequent problem among adolescents and young people is the addiction to new technologies due to the popularity that cell phones and computers have among them. Specially between addictions, phubbing is one that has attracted the most attention from scientists and professionals due to the psychosocial costs it entails. This behavior is composed of cell phone addiction and disturbance in interpersonal communication. Despite this, its scientific study is incipient, mostly in Latin American countries. Therefore, this chapter will conceptualize addiction to new technologies, develop the concept and evolution of the term phubbing, and provide scientific techniques for its measurement and data on its incidence in Argentinean adolescents and young people. Finally, it will culminate with guidelines for its detection and prevention.