Gao WJ, Hu Y, Ji JL, Liu XQ. Relationship between depression, smartphone addiction, and sleep among Chinese engineering students during the COVID-19 pandemic. World J Psychiatry 2023; 13(6): 361-375 [PMID: 37383286 DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i6.361]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xin-Qiao Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, China. xinqiaoliu@pku.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2023; 13(6): 361-375 Published online Jun 19, 2023. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i6.361
Relationship between depression, smartphone addiction, and sleep among Chinese engineering students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Wen-Juan Gao, Yan Hu, Jun-Lin Ji, Xin-Qiao Liu
Wen-Juan Gao, Yan Hu, Jun-Lin Ji, Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Wen-Juan Gao, Yan Hu, Jun-Lin Ji, School of Public Administration, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Wen-Juan Gao, Yan Hu, Jun-Lin Ji, Research Center for Beijing Higher Education Development, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Xin-Qiao Liu, School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Author contributions: Gao WJ and Liu XQ designed the study; Gao WJ and Hu Y undertook the statistical analysis; Hu Y and Ji JL managed the literature searches and analyses; Gao WJ, Hu Y, Ji JL, and Liu XQ wrote the manuscript; and all authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
Supported bythe Strategic Research Project on the Cultivation Reform of Outstanding Engineers sponsored by Beihang University, No. 2022-0202-13.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin University (approval date: 2022-12-01).
Informed consent statement: All participants provided informed written consent before entering the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Data will be made available on reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xin-Qiao Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, China. xinqiaoliu@pku.edu.cn
Received: February 27, 2023 Peer-review started: February 27, 2023 First decision: March 24, 2023 Revised: April 7, 2023 Accepted: April 24, 2023 Article in press: April 24, 2023 Published online: June 19, 2023 Processing time: 111 Days and 20.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
It has been reported that engineering students have severe depressive symptoms, especially during the epidemic. Published research confirms a positive correlation between smartphone addiction and depression. Sleep may play a mediating role in the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression. However, this hypothesis has not been carefully studied in the engineering student population.
Research motivation
Although it is reasonable that sleep plays a mediating role in the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression, this hypothesis has not been discussed in detail. The motivation of this study is to explore the mediating role of sleep in the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression among engineering students.
Research objectives
To investigate whether sleep plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression among engineering students.
Research methods
During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, we conducted an online survey of 692 engineering students from an engineering university in Beijing, China. The Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version was used to assess smartphone addiction. Depression was measured using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to measure sleep. We used multivariate regression models and structural equation model analysis to evaluate sleep as a mediator.
Research results
Among 692 engineering students, the rate of smartphone addiction was 63.58%, and the prevalence of depression was 14.16%. According to a multivariate regression model, smartphone addiction and sleep significantly affect depression. Sleep plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression.
Research conclusions
Current research shows that sleep is a mediator between smartphone addiction and depression. Controlling smartphone use and improving sleep quality can help alleviate depression.
Research perspectives
Future longitudinal studies need to verify the mediating role of sleep in the association between smartphone addiction and depression. In addition, more variables (such as stress and anxiety) need to be controlled for and considered.
