CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 329Impact of Technology on AdolescentsGambling Behavior and TreatmentsSexuality, Behavior, and Technology

Is dysfunctional use of the mobile phone a behavioural addiction? Confronting symptom-based versus process-based approaches

Open access
Billieux, Joël, Philippot, Pierre, Schmid, Cécile, Maurage, Pierre, De Mol, Jan, Van der Linden, Martial·2015·Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
DOI 10.1002/cpp.1910
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Dysfunctional use of the mobile phone has often been conceptualized as a ‘behavioural addiction’ that shares most features with drug addictions. In the current article, we challenge the clinical utility of the addiction model as applied to mobile phone overuse. We describe the case of a woman who overuses her mobile phone from two distinct approaches: (1) a symptom‐based categorical approach inspired from the addiction model of dysfunctional mobile phone use and (2) a process‐based approach resulting from an idiosyncratic clinical case conceptualization. In the case depicted here, the addiction model was shown to lead to standardized and non‐relevant treatment, whereas the clinical case conceptualization allowed identification of specific psychological processes that can be targeted with specific, empirically based psychological interventions. This finding highlights that conceptualizing excessive behaviours (e.g., gambling and sex) within the addiction model can be a simplification of an individual's psychological functioning, offering only limited clinical relevance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: The addiction model, applied to excessive behaviours (e.g., gambling, sex and Internet‐related activities) may lead to non‐relevant standardized treatments. Clinical case conceptualization allowed identification of specific psychological processes that can be targeted with specific empirically based psychological interventions. The biomedical model might lead to the simplification of an individual's psychological functioning with limited clinical relevance.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/cpp.1910

Cites

48 of 48 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Inferring tolerance based on the increasing use of the mobile phone is highly tentative.

    “As Billieux et al. (2014) concluded, inferring tolerance based on the increasing use of the mobile phone is highly tentative.”

    From Is smartphone addiction really an addiction? (2018) · cites this paper as Billieux et al., 2014

  • There is one other mobile phone addiction case study, but its presentation has only a pedagogical purpose.

    “There is one other mobile phone addiction case study (Billieux et al., 2014), but its presentation has only a pedagogical purpose.”

    From Is smartphone addiction really an addiction? (2018) · cites this paper as Billieux et al., 2014

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Marlatt, G. A., & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse prevention. New York: Guilford Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Billieux, J., Philippot, P., Schmid, C., Maurage, P., De Mol, J., & Van der Linden, M.
Affiliations
  • UCLouvain (BE)
  • Psychological Sciences Research Institute Université catholique de Louvain Louvain‐La‐Neuve Belgium
  • Cognitive Psychopathology and Neuropsychology Unit, Psychology Department Université de Genève Genève Switzerland
Corresponding author
Billieux, Joël
ORCID
Venue
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2014-06-19
Volume
22
Issue
5
Pages
460-468
ISSN
  • 1063-3995 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-0879
DOI
10.1002/cpp.1910
OpenAlex
W2136141052
Cited by
329
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 2
FWCI
33.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion)
  • DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion)
  • ORBi (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Keywords
mobile phone overuse, behavioral addiction, addiction models, symptom-based diagnosis, psychological intervention, biomedical model, problematic technology use, gambling addiction, sexual addiction
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Behavior, Addictive, Cell Phone, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review