Electronic devices use association with psychological distress and sleep among adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescents’ electronic devices (e-devices) use is an emerging issue that may influence their emotions and sleep. The relations between e-devices use and psychological distress of stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep in this population are not well examined. This study aimed to describe e-devices use and psychological distress and sleep in a sample of adolescents and examine the relationships between e-devices use and psychological distress and sleep. Design: This descriptive comparative study utilized cross-sectional collected data on e-devices use, psychological distress, and sleep from 485 randomly selected Jordanian adolescents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in this study. Results: About 99% of the subjects reported using e-devices for a mean of 5 hours/day. Subjects reported an average of 8 hours of sleep /day, though two-thirds of them reported not getting enough sleep. About 17%, 37.9%, 20.2%, and 10% of the subjects had severe to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and moderate to severe insomnia, respectively. The stress and anxiety scores were significantly higher (worse) in high-compared to low-e-devices users. The difference in insomnia scores approached the significance level (p 0.06), with high e-devices users had poorer scores. Conclusion: E-devices use is a widespread behavior among Jordanian adolescents. This study demonstrated the negative relationship between e-devices use and psychological distress, especially among female adolescents. It supports targeting adolescents’ e-devices users to promote their mental health.