Symptom network between problematic smartphone use and poor sleep quality in adolescents with depression

Background: This study established a network structure between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and poor sleep quality (PSQ) to explore their symptomatic relationship in adolescents with depression. 

Methods: The data were obtained from the baseline data of the Chinese Adolescent Depression Cohort, which included depressed adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. PSU and PSQ were assessed via the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). This study utilized network analysis to identify the core and bridge symptoms between PSU and PSQ. 

Results: The core symptom of the network was ‘Anxiety and craving’ in the PSU. The symptoms ‘Anxiety and craving’, ‘Daytime dysfunction’ and ‘Sleep disturbances’ could function as bridges between PSU and PSQ. The symptom ‘Anxiety and craving’ played the most important role in the interaction between PSU and PSQ. It affects ‘Sleep disturbances’ that contribute to the harm of problematic smartphone use to sleep quality. The symptom ‘Daytime dysfunction’ of PSQ was the most severely affected by PSU. 

Conclusions: Interventions that target regulating negative emotion and reducing daytime tiredness would be more effective in managing problematic smartphone use and improving sleep quality. 

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.