The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective. Social media (SM) has gained almost ubiquitous use in society and especially among adolescents; however, there has been rising concern over its negative consequences, including the effects on child behavioral health, such as sleep and internalizing symptoms. Research elucidating the impac...

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Main Authors: Young Lee, Judy Blebea, Furhut Janssen, Sarah E. Domoff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-01-01
Series:Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/3277040
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author Young Lee
Judy Blebea
Furhut Janssen
Sarah E. Domoff
author_facet Young Lee
Judy Blebea
Furhut Janssen
Sarah E. Domoff
author_sort Young Lee
collection DOAJ
description Objective. Social media (SM) has gained almost ubiquitous use in society and especially among adolescents; however, there has been rising concern over its negative consequences, including the effects on child behavioral health, such as sleep and internalizing symptoms. Research elucidating the impacts of SM use on young people should be conducted to inform healthier SM usage. This study seeks to understand how SM use and use of phones around bedtime associates with worse sleep quality, depression, and anxiety among youth during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. Methods. This project uses archival data collected in fall 2020 through school-based surveys to adolescents in a rural school district in Michigan. There were a total of 200 participants (91.7% response rate) of which 180 adolescents (12-15 years old, 40.0% male, 55.6% female, 3.9% nonbinary) were included in the analysis based on their SM use, the majority of whom identified as white (91.7%). Results. Linear regression analyses indicated that higher self-reported SM use was associated with poorer sleep quality and greater depression (p<0.05). Sleep quality mediated the association between SM use and depression (p<0.05). Furthermore, youth who brought their smartphones to bed with them had poorer sleep quality than those without phones (p<0.05). SM use was not associated with anxiety after controlling for age and gender. Conclusions. SM use is associated with higher rates of adolescent depression; however, sleep appears to mediate the relationship. The impacts of bringing a smartphone to bed and self-reported SM use on adolescent mental health may be better predicted via sleep disruption even during a widescale event such as COVID-19.
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spelling doaj-art-7da26015574947758890bab6e1372f202025-02-03T01:29:29ZengWileyHuman Behavior and Emerging Technologies2578-18632023-01-01202310.1155/2023/3277040The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 PandemicYoung Lee0Judy Blebea1Furhut Janssen2Sarah E. Domoff3College of MedicineCollege of MedicineCollege of MedicineDepartment of PsychologyObjective. Social media (SM) has gained almost ubiquitous use in society and especially among adolescents; however, there has been rising concern over its negative consequences, including the effects on child behavioral health, such as sleep and internalizing symptoms. Research elucidating the impacts of SM use on young people should be conducted to inform healthier SM usage. This study seeks to understand how SM use and use of phones around bedtime associates with worse sleep quality, depression, and anxiety among youth during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. Methods. This project uses archival data collected in fall 2020 through school-based surveys to adolescents in a rural school district in Michigan. There were a total of 200 participants (91.7% response rate) of which 180 adolescents (12-15 years old, 40.0% male, 55.6% female, 3.9% nonbinary) were included in the analysis based on their SM use, the majority of whom identified as white (91.7%). Results. Linear regression analyses indicated that higher self-reported SM use was associated with poorer sleep quality and greater depression (p<0.05). Sleep quality mediated the association between SM use and depression (p<0.05). Furthermore, youth who brought their smartphones to bed with them had poorer sleep quality than those without phones (p<0.05). SM use was not associated with anxiety after controlling for age and gender. Conclusions. SM use is associated with higher rates of adolescent depression; however, sleep appears to mediate the relationship. The impacts of bringing a smartphone to bed and self-reported SM use on adolescent mental health may be better predicted via sleep disruption even during a widescale event such as COVID-19.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/3277040
spellingShingle Young Lee
Judy Blebea
Furhut Janssen
Sarah E. Domoff
The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies
title The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short The Impact of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Sleep Quality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort impact of smartphone and social media use on adolescent sleep quality and mental health during the covid 19 pandemic
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/3277040
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