A Phenomenological Study of the Sense of Meaninglessness among Adolescents with Severe Dependence on Digital Space

Abstract

This study aimed to phenomenologically explore the sense of meaninglessness among adolescents with severe dependence on digital spaces and to clarify how excessive digital engagement shapes their lived experience of self, time, relationships, and future orientation. This qualitative study used a descriptive phenomenological design. Participants were 18 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years living in Tehran, selected through purposive sampling based on their lived experience of severe dependence on digital environments. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Inclusion criteria were persistent excessive use of social media, online games, video platforms, or messaging applications; perceived impairment in academic, family, or interpersonal functioning; and willingness to describe personal experiences in detail. Data were analyzed using phenomenological thematic procedures with the support of NVivo software. Credibility and trustworthiness were enhanced through member checking, constant comparison, analytic memo writing, peer review, and careful documentation of coding decisions. Data analysis led to four main categories: “suspension of lived time and empty everydayness,” “digital refuge from inner emptiness,” “collapse of authentic relationships and replacement by performative presence,” and “weakening of future orientation and erosion of personal agency.” Participants described their experiences through feelings of aimlessness, emotional numbness, detachment from family, constant social comparison, disrupted sleep, reduced concentration, and difficulty imagining a meaningful future. Digital space functioned both as a temporary emotional shelter and as a long-term source of existential exhaustion; it reduced loneliness and anxiety momentarily but intensified emptiness, dissatisfaction, and self-alienation over time. Severe dependence on digital space among adolescents should not be understood merely as a behavioral or time-management problem. It may represent a deeper existential disruption involving weakened meaning, fragmented identity, diminished authentic presence, and impaired future-directed agency. Psychological interventions should therefore combine digital-use regulation with meaning reconstruction, emotional awareness, authentic interpersonal connection, personal goal-setting, and the restoration of non-digital lived experiences.