A quarter of 30-something women check their phone 200 times a day, says survey

A new study has thrown up some very scary statistics about our phone use.

We're all very aware of the perils of screen time and concerned with trying to distract our kids from constant watching and scrolling but it turns out that we could be just as bad as them. A quarter of women in their thirties check their phones 200 times a day, a survey carried out by Marie Claire has found. That works out at an average of around once every seven minutes. Two thirds of the survey's 600 respondents said that they feel the need to check their social media frequently and two in five admitted that they could be addicted to their phone. These results come after a US study last year that showed that women are more likely than men to be addicted to their phones. Researchers found that twice as many female participants in the study as male participants showed signs of addiction. It's no wonder we're obsessed, though - smartphone use triggers neurological rewards in our brains that make us addicted, according to lead researcher Isaac Vaghefi of Binghamton University's School of Management. "Our neurons get fired and dopamine is being released, and over time this makes us acquire a desire for quick feedback and immediate satisfaction."