Mental Health
Smartphone use, sleep dissatisfaction, and mental health in Korean adolescents Yujin Kim* Yujin Kim Hannah Oh
Background: Studies have shown that problematic smartphone use is associated with poor sleep quality and mental health among adolescents. However, little is known about whether the moderate use of smartphone without addiction is also associated with poor mental health and whether the association is independent of sleep quality.
Objective: Using nationally representative survey data, this study examined the association of duration of smartphone use with sleep dissatisfaction and poor mental health (depressive symptoms, general anxiety disorder (GAD), and suicidal thoughts/attempts).
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 51,718 adolescents who participated in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey 2023. Participants reported their average duration of smartphone use, sleep dissatisfaction, and symptoms of poor mental health. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between smartphone use duration and poor mental health, adjusting for potential confounders.
Results: Among participants without problematic smartphone use, prolonged smartphone use (≥ 420 vs. <180 min/d) was positively associated with sleep dissatisfaction (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.30), GAD (OR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.41), presence of depressive symptoms (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.32, 1.52), and experience of suicidal thoughts/attempts (OR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.48). The positive associations were attenuated but remained statistically significant after additional adjustment for sleep dissatisfaction. When stratified by sex, the magnitudes of positive associations were higher among girls (vs. boys; all p-interaction<0.01).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that prolonged smartphone use is associated with sleep dissatisfaction and poor mental health among Korean adolescents without problematic smartphone use.