Relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and internet addiction with insomnia and depression as multiple mediators during the COVID-19 pandemic: a three-wave longitudinal study in Chinese college students

Abstract

Background The relationships between fruit and vegetable consumption (FV) and Internet addiction (IA) in college students still remained unknown together with the internal mechanisms. Given the limitations of previous cross-sectional design, longitudinal research was necessary to be conducted to explore more precise correlations. Using the three-wave data in a longitudinal design, this study aimed to explore the association between FV and IA among Chinese college students and potential multiple mediators of insomnia and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A total of 579 college students were recruited during three waves (T1: August 2020; T2: November 2020; T3: February 2021). FV (T1), insomnia (T2), depression (T2) and IA (T3) symptoms were reported. The descriptive statistics of the sociodemographic characteristics and correlation analyses of the study variables were calculated. The significance of the mediation effects was measured conducting a bootstrap method with SPSS PROCESS macro. Results FV was negatively correlated with IA, and lower FV predicted higher risk of IA. Depression mediated the association between FV and subsequent IA. Insomnia and depression were multiple mediators, which in turn mediated the links between FV and subsequent IA. Conclusions The three-wave longitudinal study has revealed that FV had indirect effects on IA through individual mediating factor of depression and multiple mediating roles of insomnia and depression sequentially. The policy makers, educators and researchers should pay attention to the impact of the interventions from healthy diet, in order to optimize the coping strategies for preventing college students from IA.

Associations of vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, and school bullying with depressive symptoms in secondary school students: the mediating role of internet addiction

“…Our results not only showed the direct effects of vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, and school bullying on depressive symptoms but also found that the above factors played their indirect effects through the mediating role of IA. Several studies have demonstrated that inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables was positively associated with the risk of IA [ 37 , 70 ]. Adequate intake of fruits and vegetables may alleviate depressive symptoms by reducing the risk of IA.…”

“…In addition, existing studies have suggested that there may be a certain interaction between the above factors. A longitudinal study found that lower fruit and vegetable consumption predicted a higher risk of IA [ 37 ]. Two other randomized controlled trials have shown that interventions based on physical activity may be effective measures to alleviate addictive behaviors, such as IA and smartphone addiction [ 38 , 39 ].…”