Mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms among Chinese University students: The mediating role of sleep disturbances and the moderating role of gender

BACKGROUND: With the continuous updating of mobile phone functions, the phenomenon of mobile phone addiction among University students is becoming more and more serious. It is important to identify the potential risk factors for mobile phone addiction. The aim of the study was to examine whether there is a relationship between mobile phone addiction and depression symptoms in University students, and to investigate whether sleep disturbances play a mediating role between mobile phone addiction and depression symptoms, as well as the moderating role of gender. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, carried out between September to December 2021, recruited 973 students (478 males) from seven comprehensive universities in western China. The Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to complete measures of mobile phone addiction, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances. For statistical analyses, descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, mediation and moderated mediation analyses were used. Furthermore, we tested the mediation model and moderated mediation model using the SPSS macro PROCESS. RESULTS: In this study, it was found that there were positive correlations between mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms among Chinese University students. Mediation analyses revealed that this relationship was partially mediated by sleep disturbances, but the mediating role was not moderated by gender. CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbances have a partial mediating role in the relationship between mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms. Our results highlight the critical role of prevention and early identification of mobile phone addiction among University students, especially those with sleep disturbances.