Relationship between depression, smartphone addiction, and sleep among Chinese engineering students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND Existing research has demonstrated that depression is positively related to smartphone addiction, but the role of sleep has not been discussed thoroughly, especially among engineering undergraduates affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. AIM To evaluate sleep as a mediator of the association between smartphone addiction and depression among engineering undergraduates. METHODS Using a multistage stratified random sampling method, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 692 engineering undergraduates from a top engineering university in China, and data were collected by self-reported electronic questionnaires. The data included demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between smartphone addiction and depression, while structural equation models were established to evaluate the possible mediating role of sleep. RESULTS Based on the cutoffs of the SAS-SV, the rate of smartphone addiction was 63.58 percent, with 56.21 percent for women and 65.68 percent for men, among 692 engineering students. The prevalence of depression among students was 14.16 percent, with 17.65 percent for women, and 13.18 percent for men. Smartphone addiction was positively correlated with depression, and sleep played a significant mediating effect between the two, accounting for 42.22 percent of the total effect. In addition, sleep latency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction significantly mediated the relationship between depression and smartphone addiction. The mediating effect of sleep latency was 0.014 [ P < 0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.006-0.027], the mediating effect of sleep disturbances was 0.022 ( P < 0.01; 95%CI: 0.011-0.040), and the mediating effect of daytime dysfunction was 0.040 ( P < 0.01; 95%CI: 0.024-0.059). The influence of sleep latency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction accounted for 18.42%, 28.95%, and 52.63% of the total mediating effect, respectively. CONCLUSION The results of the study suggest that reducing excessive smartphone use and improving sleep quality can help alleviate depression.

Gaming disorder and depression among chinese left-behind adolescents: Interactions of family, school, and personality factors

“…Similarly, studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic have also revealed correlation coefficients within the range of 0.20 to 0.50, indicating a similar relationship (e.g., W.-J. Gao et al, 2023;Lee et al, 2021;X. Yang et al, 2021).…”

Potential Role of Smartphone Addiction on Sleep Quality and Perceived Neck Pain Among Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students: A Multicentered Cross-Sectional Study

“…In addition, a significant but weak correlation between poor sleep quality and smartphone addiction was also evident in line with the literature findings (Achangwa, Ryu, Lee et al, 2022;Choi, 2015;Jo & Lee, 2019). In addition, recently Gao et al (Gao, Hu, Ji et al, 2023) also reported that sleep quality significantly mediated the effect of smartphone addiction and depression among university students. However, this research was conducted during the pandemic period, which is characterized by lockdowns, therefore the higher cumulative variances compared to ours might be attributed to this timeline.…”

The relationship between mobile phone addiction and time management disposition among Chinese college students：A cross-lagged panel model

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