Abstract
Background: A small number of studies have researched the relationship between screen time and mental disorders. This research aims to investigate the link between screen time and mental disorders in Chinese adolescents, and to examine the role of sleep duration as a mediating factor.
Method: Data were collected from 3,307 students using a multi-stage random cluster sampling method and self-administered questionnaires. The study applied linear regression to investigate the relationship between screen time and mental disorders, and mediation analysis to understand how sleep duration might influence this relationship.
Results: Teenagers who had more than 2 hours of screen is around 25.5% (33.56% for electronic devices and 17.46% for television), and average mental disorder score was 5.942±0.085 for depression and 4.521±0.076 for anxiety. The linear regression analysis showed that longer electronic devices use (β=0.601, 95%CI: 0.265 to 0.937)), television usage (β=0.751, 95%CI: 0.346 to 1.156) were positively associated with depression, and electronic devices was also positively associated with anxiety (β=0.471, 95%CI:0.159 to 0.784). The study found sleep duration plays a partial mediating role between screen time and mental disorders. For electronic devices, the effect was -27.50% in depression and -44.01% in anxiety; for television, the effect was -42.70% in depression.
Limitations: The cross-sectional study design could not prove causation.
Conclusions: The association between screen time and mental disorders in adolescents was positive, and sleep duration acting as a mediator. This suggests that future research could focus on screen time and sleep management as ways to address mental disorders in adolescents.