*2.1. Dataset*

The dataset for this research was collected through an app that helps users monitor their phone usage by tracking their usage, such as phone unlocks, launches, and sessions of each app they use. It also collects information related to user demographics, including age and gender. The app privacy policy, to which all users consent, includes that collected data can be shared with academic partners for research purposes. Nevertheless, the app required the explicit consent of users before collecting and utilizing their data for this research.

Data collection for this study was first conducted in 2019 and then repeated in 2020 during COVID-19. The pre-COVID-19 data collection took place between June 2019 and September 2019. The purpose of that data collection was to study the relationship between smartphone usage and certain psychometrics of the user collected through a questionnaire they answered. The data collection during the COVID-19 period was conducted from October 2020 to April 2021. Throughout the paper, pre-COVID-19 is referred to interchangeably with 2019, while during-COVID-19 is referred to as 2020. The data collection was open to new participants who installed the app throughout the study duration, and our participants joined and withdrew from the app after a different number of days. The study was conducted over a period of 21 days from the start date of each user. The 21 days period choice covered three weeks, including weekends, and included a considerable number of users since some left the study after that.

The 2019 dataset had 376 users, while for the 2020 dataset, 557 users participated. Users in the 2020 study came from ten countries: Sweden, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, and the United States. We wanted to restrict the study to countries where restrictions on social gatherings were applied. The 2019 dataset had around 70% users from the same 10 countries as the during-COVID-19 dataset. The datasets included anyone who participated, even for one day. Furthermore, the dataset included only Android smartphone users.
