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. 2021 Jul:126:106012.
doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106012. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

The mediating role of daytime sleepiness between problematic smartphone use and post-traumatic symptoms in COVID-19 home-refined adolescents

Tao Hu  1 , Ying Wang  1 , Ling Lin  1 , Wanjie Tang  2   3
Affiliations

The mediating role of daytime sleepiness between problematic smartphone use and post-traumatic symptoms in COVID-19 home-refined adolescents

Tao Hu et al. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 was first recognized in late 2019 in China, at which time school closures forced most students to isolate at home or maintain social distance, both of which increased smartphone use, daytime sleepiness and post traumatic disorder (PTSD) risks. However, to date, no research has fully explored these behavioral risks or the consequences.

Methods: Two thousand and ninety home-confined students from two Chinese high schools participated in an online-based questionnaire battery that assessed their sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 related exposures, daytime sleepiness, problematic smartphone use, and PTSD. The subsequent data were subjected to mediation analysis, and structural equation models (SEM) were employed to explore the variable relationships.

Results: The problematic smartphone use, daytime sleepiness and PTSD prevalence were respectively 16.4%, 20.2% and 6.9%. The number of COVID-19 related exposure was directly associated with problematic smartphone use and PTSD symptoms. Problematic smartphone use was found to be a mediator between COVID-19 related exposure and PTSD symptoms, and daytime sleepiness was found to partially mediate the associations between problematic smartphone use and PTSD.

Conclusions: The more exposure associated with the pandemic, the more psychological and behavioral problems the adolescents had. The relatively high rate of problematic smartphone use in home isolated adolescents possibly increased the risk of daytime sleepiness and psychological problems. Therefore, _targeted improvements are needed to reduce the risk of psychological problems and daytime sleepiness in adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescent; COVID-19; Daytime sleepiness; PTSD; Problem smartphone use.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Path diagram showing the structural equation modeling analysis. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was employed to determine the paths between COVID-related exposure, problematic smartphone use, daytime sleepiness and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Abbreviations: PTSD, Post-traumatic stress disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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