Expert warns against 'suspicious' activity in relationships that breaks up one in ten couples

Research has found that some behaviors linked to the way a person uses their mobile phone are breaking up relationships.

In the digital age, the younger generation in particular have become glued to their phones.

Whether it's scrolling through TikTok, online shopping, or checking out potential new suitors on Tinder, there's always something to do on our devices.

In fact, our lives have become so technology-centered that studies have found it increasingly common for people to meet a partner on a dating app.

However, your phone might help you get a partner, but it could also be the reason you break up.

In a survey conducted by mobile phone experts Compare and Recycle, 2,000 UK-based participants were asked what habits they see as 'suspicious' when it comes to their partners and their phones.

39 percent of people said that someone having their phone with them at all times was one type of suspicious behavior, while 29 percent of participants said that a person having password-protected apps would be a red flag.

Studies have shown that you're most likely to find your next partner on a dating app (Getty Stock Image)

Elsewhere, half of the 2,000 people agreed that it's suspicious if someone gets defensive if you ask to borrow their phone.

But the top suspicious behavior (according to 59 percent of respondents) was someone having two phones that you weren't aware of.

The findings revealed that one in ten relationships have fallen apart due to confrontations about suspicious phone activity.

The survey also found that 18 percent of adults have caught their partner engaging in a digital affair, with 59 percent of those relationships breaking up as a result.

With these worrying statistics in mind, accredited counsellor with the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Rebecca Partridge, has given some tips on how to navigate trusting your partner and their digital habits.

An expert said that secretly checking your partner's device is a bad idea (Getty Stock Image)

Partridge shared: "In maintaining trust around social media and messaging apps, it is beneficial for couples to define what digital infidelity means, thereby setting boundaries of what they expect within the relationship. Communication and ownership of behaviour is also useful."

She also urged people to not check their partners' phones if they're skeptical about their habits.

"It may feel natural to want to check a partner’s phone if there were suspicions, however overall, I believe it causes more harm than good. It is a violation of your partner’s privacy and breaks the trust between you," Partridge said.

Instead, she suggested that you 'communicate with your partner about these concerns and seek to have an open conversation with them about this subject and what you're experiencing'.