ArticleBMJ open2023
Relationship between mental health, sleep status and screen time among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comprehensive effects and dose-response relationship of screen exposure on university students' physical and mental health and academic performance in the digital age: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Investigating eating patterns and risk factors of weight status among undergraduate students in a multinational cross-sectional study across 15 countries with 8,482 participants.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Psychosocial Distress Patterns and Their Associations With Deliberate Self-Harm and Suicidality: A Latent Profile Analysis Among Chinese University Students.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- Adherence to healthy and sustainable diets and health-related behaviors in a Spanish online university setting.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Observational
- The Relationship between Childhood Trauma and Depression in Early Adulthood: The Roles of Resilience and Personality Type.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Article
- Impact of eyesight, BMI, and the use of screen-based devices on mental well-being.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveOn 20 July 2021, after the outbreak of COVID-19 at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, several universities started closed management and online teaching. This had a large impact on students' daily life and study, which may lead to mental health problems. The purpose of this study is to study the effect of screen time on mental health status of university students and the possible mediating effect of sleep status.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional study. A web-based questionnaire survey was employed that included demographic characteristics, sleep status and mental health status (depression, anxiety and loneliness). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scale was used to assess sleep status, while the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale and Emotional versus Social Loneliness Scale (ESLS) were used to assess depression, anxiety and loneliness, respectively. Linear and logistic regression models were developed and adjusted for confounding factors, and finally the mediating effects were tested using the Karlson-Holm-Breen method.
resultsFinally, 1070 valid questionnaires were included. Among these, 604 (56.45%) indicated depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥16) and 902 (84.30%) indicated anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 score ≥10). The mean ESLS score (for loneliness) was 26.51±6.64. The relationship between screen time and depressive symptoms (OR 1.118, 95% CI 1.072 to 1.166) and anxiety symptoms (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.023 to 1.138) remained significant after adjusting for confounding factors. Meanwhile, sleep status plays an intermediary role in screen time and mental health status (depression and anxiety) and accounts for 13.73% and 19.68% of the total effects, respectively. We did not find a significant association between screen time and loneliness.
conclusionDuring the outbreak of COVID-19, screen time is inevitably prolonged among university students. There is a relationship between mental health and screen time, and sleep status plays a mediating role.
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