Nighttime smartphone use and changes in mental health and wellbeing among young adults: a longitudinal study based on high-resolution tracking data
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Nighttime smartphone use and changes in mental health and wellbeing among young adults : a longitudinal study based on high-resolution tracking data. / Dissing, Agnete Skovlund; Andersen, Thea Otte; Jensen, Andreas Kryger; Lund, Rikke; Rod, Naja Hulvej.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 12, No. 1, 8013, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nighttime smartphone use and changes in mental health and wellbeing among young adults
T2 - a longitudinal study based on high-resolution tracking data
AU - Dissing, Agnete Skovlund
AU - Andersen, Thea Otte
AU - Jensen, Andreas Kryger
AU - Lund, Rikke
AU - Rod, Naja Hulvej
N1 - © 2022. The Author(s).
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Frequent nighttime smartphone use can disturb healthy sleep patterns and may adversely affect mental health and wellbeing. This study aims at investigating whether nighttime smartphone use increases the risk of poor mental health, i.e. loneliness, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and low life satisfaction among young adults. High-dimensional tracking data from the Copenhagen Network Study was used to objectively measure nighttime smartphone activity. We recorded more than 250,000 smartphone activities during self-reported sleep periods among 815 young adults (university students, mean age: 21.6 years, males: 77%) over 16 weekdays period. Mental health was measured at baseline using validated measures, and again at follow-up four months later. Associations between nighttime smartphone use and mental health were evaluated at baseline and at follow-up using multiple linear regression adjusting for potential confounding. Nighttime smartphone use was associated with a slightly higher level of perceived stress and depressive symptoms at baseline. For example, participants having 1-3 nights with smartphone use (out of 16 observed nights) had on average a 0.25 higher score (95%CI:0.08;0.41) on the Perceived stress scale ranging from 0 to 10. These differences were small and could not be replicated at follow-up. Contrary to the prevailing hypothesis, nighttime smartphone use is not strongly related to poor mental health, potentially because smartphone use is also a social phenomenon with associated benefits for mental health.
AB - Frequent nighttime smartphone use can disturb healthy sleep patterns and may adversely affect mental health and wellbeing. This study aims at investigating whether nighttime smartphone use increases the risk of poor mental health, i.e. loneliness, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and low life satisfaction among young adults. High-dimensional tracking data from the Copenhagen Network Study was used to objectively measure nighttime smartphone activity. We recorded more than 250,000 smartphone activities during self-reported sleep periods among 815 young adults (university students, mean age: 21.6 years, males: 77%) over 16 weekdays period. Mental health was measured at baseline using validated measures, and again at follow-up four months later. Associations between nighttime smartphone use and mental health were evaluated at baseline and at follow-up using multiple linear regression adjusting for potential confounding. Nighttime smartphone use was associated with a slightly higher level of perceived stress and depressive symptoms at baseline. For example, participants having 1-3 nights with smartphone use (out of 16 observed nights) had on average a 0.25 higher score (95%CI:0.08;0.41) on the Perceived stress scale ranging from 0 to 10. These differences were small and could not be replicated at follow-up. Contrary to the prevailing hypothesis, nighttime smartphone use is not strongly related to poor mental health, potentially because smartphone use is also a social phenomenon with associated benefits for mental health.
KW - Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Loneliness
KW - Longitudinal Studies
KW - Male
KW - Mental Health
KW - Sleep
KW - Smartphone
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-10116-z
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-10116-z
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35570230
VL - 12
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 8013
ER -
ID: 307435915