Exploring Associations between Problematic Internet Use, Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Disturbance among Southern Chinese Adolescents.

Liping Li,Yaogui Lu,Yafei Tan,Ying Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph13030313

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to examine associations between problematic Internet use, depression and sleep disturbance, and explore whether there were differential effects of problematic Internet use and depression on sleep disturbance. A total of 1772 adolescents who participated in the Shantou Adolescent Mental Health Survey were recruited in 2012 in Shantou, China. The Chinese version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was used to evaluate the prevalence and severity of Internet addiction. The Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), and other socio-demographic measures were also completed. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the mediating effect of problematic Internet use and depression on sleep disturbance. Among the participants, 17.2% of adolescents met the criteria for problematic Internet use, 40.0% were also classified as suffering from sleep disturbance, and 54.4% of students had depressive symptoms. Problematic Internet use was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance. The correlation between depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance was highly significant. Both problematic Internet use (β = 0.014; Sobel test Z = 12.7, p < 0.001) and depression (β = 0.232; Sobel test Z = 3.39, p < 0.001) had partially mediating effects on sleep disturbance and depression was of greater importance for sleep disturbance than problematic Internet use. There is a high prevalence of problematic Internet use, depression and sleep disturbance among high school students in southern China, and problematic Internet use and depressive symptoms are strongly associated with sleep disturbance. This study provides evidence that problematic Internet use and depression have partially mediating effects on sleep disturbance. These results are important for clinicians and policy makers with useful information for prevention and intervention efforts.

Highlights

Over the past ten years, the popularity of Internet use among adolescents has dramatically increased; 93% of teens between the ages 12–17 go online in the U.S, as do 93% of Japanese adolescents [1]
The mean Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) score was 9.69, with 54.4% of students identified as having depression symptoms, and the mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score was 5.16, with 40.0% of the students being classified as having sleep disturbance (See Table 1)
With regard to the relationship between problematic Internet use, depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance, the current study found that problematic Internet use was positively associated with the level of depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance, as indicated by bivariate analyses, which supported our first prediction

Summary

Introduction

Over the past ten years, the popularity of Internet use among adolescents has dramatically increased; 93% of teens between the ages 12–17 go online in the U.S, as do 93% of Japanese adolescents [1]. China had 256 million adolescent Internet users as of January 2014, accounting for. 71.8% of the overall number of adolescents [2]. Given the swift increase in numbers of teenage users, it is not surprising that the question has been raised of whether the advantages of adolescent Internet use outweigh the disadvantages. Internet-based programs can provide opportunities for interactivity and active participation that might not otherwise be available to adolescents. Excessive Internet use may lead to grey matter atrophy in the brain [4], negatively affecting There is evidence that computer game practice improves the spatial performance and iconic and visual attention skills of adolescents [3].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion