# Frankfurt and Bath researchers develop a 7-item scale measuring attitude toward digital detox

- Published: 2026-11-10 10:24 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Neurotechnology
- Tags: digital detox, Attitude toward Digital Detox scale, ADD scale, Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Bath, screen time, self-control and mindfulness, Psychology and Marketing, psychometric scale
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-f655f9741fe4582dd24a994d_frankfurt_and_bath/

**The Attitude toward Digital Detox scale was tested across seven studies. A favorable attitude was linked to self-control and mindfulness, but not to perceived stress or smartphone addiction.**

![Frankfurt and Bath researchers develop a 7-item scale measuring attitude toward digital detox](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/b55e131d9606f5f4.jpg)
*Earth.com*

A team from Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Bath has developed and validated the Attitude toward Digital Detox (ADD) scale, according to a paper in Psychology and Marketing. The scale has seven items and measures how favorably a person views temporarily reducing digital consumption [1]. Participants rate their agreement with statements such as "Reducing my digital activities improves my mental health" on a 1-to-7 scale. The authors distinguish digital detox, an intentional and temporary reduction of device use, from technology avoidance, which is a permanent rejection of a specific device or platform.

## How the scale was built

The work comprised seven studies, with samples of US adults recruited online and Central European university students. In the first study, 157 participants wrote statements about attitudes toward digital detox and behaviors around it, which produced 628 candidate items. Consumer behavior experts from the universities of Tübingen, Bocconi, Cologne, Passau and St. Gallen rated each item for representativeness and comprehensibility. The pool was reduced to 72 items and then to 27 after content validity screening. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on 400 participants left seven items [1]. The scale showed strong internal consistency and only a weak correlation with social desirability.

## Links with traits and behavior

In Study 4, with 382 US adults, ADD scores correlated positively with self-control, mindfulness and the belief that intelligence can be developed. Perceived stress, pathological internet use and smartphone addiction showed no significant relationship with the scale [1].

In a pre-registered study with 1,583 US adults, participants chose a video genre and alternated between watching clips and doing word-search puzzles. Those with higher ADD scores spent significantly less time watching each video. The scores did not predict whether participants chose another video or another puzzle. Higher device usage time was associated with lower ADD scores, and this negative correlation was statistically significant.

Two further studies tested known groups. Members of Reddit communities such as r/nosurf and r/bulletjournal scored 5.33 on average, against 3.47 for members of r/ebooks and r/SmartThings. Among students surveyed during the pandemic, those who preferred in-person lectures scored higher, and higher scores correlated with attending more lectures in person over the winter term [1].

The authors grounded the scale in the transactional model of stress and coping by Lazarus and Folkman. Co-author Lisa Eckmann said that reliable measurement of this attitude makes it possible to study what makes people receptive to stepping back from technology and whether such attitudes translate into changes in behavior.

## Sources

1. [Psychology and Marketing](https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70256)
2. [Earth.com](https://www.earth.com/science/wanting-a-digital-detox-may-reveal-something-unexpected-about-you)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-f655f9741fe4582dd24a994d_frankfurt_and_bath/