Associations of Time Spent on Study and Sleep with Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Junior High School Students: Report from the Large-Scale Monitoring of Basic Education Data in China

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and under the pressure of high competitiveness for higher education in China, junior high school students' mental health is facing greater challenges. Understanding the time allocation of study and sleep is necessary for developing effective prevention and treatment programs. Based on a survey of 31,057 junior high school students in 47 junior high schools in Gansu Province, mainland China, the study analyzed the associations of time spent on study and sleep with anxiety and depressive symptoms among junior high school students through chi-square test, ANOVA, logistic regression model and threshold regression model. It was found that 18.4%-21.1% of junior high school students had mild and above anxiety and depressive symptoms. Female junior high school students were more likely to have anxiety and depressive symptoms. In addition, time spent on study was significantly and positively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms and time spent on sleep was significantly and negatively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Late sleepers were more likely to suffer from anxiety and depressive tendencies. Reducing after-school study time appropriately and getting more sleep are beneficial in reducing anxiety and depression, but it is more important to ensure time of sleep. For the reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms, the maximum time spent on study after school should not exceed 1.92 h, the minimum time spent on sleep at night should be more than 7 h and a 40-min lunch break should be guaranteed at noon.