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Abstract
Adolescence is a time of increasing vulnerability for poor mental health, including
depression. Sleep disturbance is an important risk factor for the development of depression
during adolescence. Excessive electronic media use at night is a risk factor for both
adolescents' sleep disturbance and depression. To better understand the interplay
between sleep, depressive symptoms, and electronic media use at night, this study
examined changes in adolescents' electronic media use at night and sleep associated
with smartphone ownership. Also examined was whether sleep disturbance mediated the
relationship between electronic media use at night and depressive symptoms. 362 adolescents
(12-17 year olds, M = 14.8, SD = 1.3; 44.8% female) were included and completed questionnaires
assessing sleep disturbance (short sleep duration and sleep difficulties) and depressive
symptoms. Further, participants reported on their electronic media use in bed before
sleep such as frequency of watching TV or movies, playing video games, talking or
text messaging on the mobile phone, and spending time online. Smartphone ownership
was related to more electronic media use in bed before sleep, particularly calling/sending
messages and spending time online compared to adolescents with a conventional mobile
phone. Smartphone ownership was also related to later bedtimes while it was unrelated
to sleep disturbance and symptoms of depression. Sleep disturbance partially mediated
the relationship between electronic media use in bed before sleep and symptoms of
depression. Electronic media use was negatively related with sleep duration and positively
with sleep difficulties, which in turn were related to depressive symptoms. Sleep
difficulties were the more important mediator than sleep duration. The results of
this study suggest that adolescents might benefit from education regarding sleep hygiene
and the risks of electronic media use at night.
Electronic media have often been considered to have a negative impact on the sleep of children and adolescents, but there are no comprehensive reviews of research in this area. The present study identified 36 papers that have investigated the relationship between sleep and electronic media in school-aged children and adolescents, including television viewing, use of computers, electronic gaming, and/or the internet, mobile telephones, and music. Many variables have been investigated across these studies, although delayed bedtime and shorter total sleep time have been found to be most consistently related to media use. A model of the mechanisms by which media use may affect sleep is presented and discussed as a vehicle for future research. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Background Because of the quick development and widespread use of mobile phones, and their vast effect on communication and interactions, it is important to study possible negative health effects of mobile phone exposure. The overall aim of this study was to investigate whether there are associations between psychosocial aspects of mobile phone use and mental health symptoms in a prospective cohort of young adults. Methods The study group consisted of young adults 20-24 years old (n = 4156), who responded to a questionnaire at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Mobile phone exposure variables included frequency of use, but also more qualitative variables: demands on availability, perceived stressfulness of accessibility, being awakened at night by the mobile phone, and personal overuse of the mobile phone. Mental health outcomes included current stress, sleep disorders, and symptoms of depression. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated for cross-sectional and prospective associations between exposure variables and mental health outcomes for men and women separately. Results There were cross-sectional associations between high compared to low mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression for the men and women. When excluding respondents reporting mental health symptoms at baseline, high mobile phone use was associated with sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression for the men and symptoms of depression for the women at 1-year follow-up. All qualitative variables had cross-sectional associations with mental health outcomes. In prospective analysis, overuse was associated with stress and sleep disturbances for women, and high accessibility stress was associated with stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression for both men and women. Conclusions High frequency of mobile phone use at baseline was a risk factor for mental health outcomes at 1-year follow-up among the young adults. The risk for reporting mental health symptoms at follow-up was greatest among those who had perceived accessibility via mobile phones to be stressful. Public health prevention strategies focusing on attitudes could include information and advice, helping young adults to set limits for their own and others' accessibility.
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