Associations of smartphone addiction, chronotype, sleep quality, and risk of eating disorders among university students: A cross-sectional study from Sharjah/United Arab Emirates

OBJECTIVES: As smartphone addiction (SA) becomes more prevalent among young adults, there is growing concern over its impact on dietary and lifestyle habits, such as disturbed sleep and eating patterns. However, limited literature exists particularly on the association between SA and eating disorders (ED). Thus, this study aims to study the prevalence of SA risk, poor sleeping quality, evening chronotype, and ED risk among university students in the UAE. It also aims to assess the associations between them, emphasizing the one between ED and SA risks. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered online questionnaire was disseminated via convenience sampling. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, Eating Attitude Test-26 items, and Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version were used to measure sleep quality, chronotype, ED risk, and SA risk, respectively. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied, and P < 0.05 was considered for statistical significance. RESULTS: Out of 552 students (mean age: 21.2 ± 5.1 years), 71% had poor sleep quality, 33.9% reported evening chronotype, 37.9% had ED risk, and 56.2% had SA risk. SA risk was significantly associated with both poor sleep quality (OR = 2.93; 95% CI: 2.01–4.29; p < 0.001) and evening chronotype (p = 0.005). ED risk was significantly associated with poor sleep quality (p < 0.001). Poor sleep quality predicted ED risk best. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of SA, ED risk, and poor sleep quality was reported among university students in the UAE. Associations between poor sleep quality, evening chronotype, SA risk, and ED risk were further confirmed, with sleep quality predicting ED risk.