Effects of Smartphone Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Young Adults: Going Beyond Self‐Report

Elena Bild; Kalina R Rossa; Shannon L Edmed; Cassandra L Pattinson; Dwayne L Mann; Karen A Sullivan; Paul M Salmon; Sylistah Gadam; Arvind Gnani Srinivasan; Simon S Smith

doi:10.1155/da/3249012

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Effects of Smartphone Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Young Adults: Going Beyond Self‐Report

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Effects of Smartphone Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Young Adults: Going Beyond Self‐Report

Elena Bild, Kalina R Rossa, Shannon L Edmed, Cassandra L Pattinson, Dwayne L Mann, Karen A Sullivan, Paul M Salmon, Sylistah Gadam, Arvind Gnani Srinivasan and Simon S Smith

Depression and Anxiety, Vol.2025(1), pp.1-11

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/da/3249012

PMCID: PMC12662671

PMID: 41321479

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Abstract

anxiety

depression

mental health

sleep

smartphone

young adult

Background Poor sleep has been associated with mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression. Prior evidence suggests that smartphone use may be a factor in poor sleep and mental ill-health in young adults, though most studies have relied on self-reported measures of smartphone use and sleep, which can be unreliable. This study used objective and subjective measures to examine the relationship between time spent using smartphones, sleep duration, quality, regularity, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of self-selected poor sleepers. Methods Participants (N = 99; 70.7% female) wore an actigraph for 2 weeks to assess their habitual nightly sleep duration and regularity. Their average daily smartphone screen use was collected over 1 week with a smartphone application. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess sleep quality and mental health symptoms. Results No statistically significant associations were found between objective smartphone screen use and any sleep or mental health variables. Sleep disturbance, sleep-related daytime impairment, anxiety, and depression were positively correlated. However, regression models identified that only sleep-related daytime impairment explained unique variance in anxiety and depression when adjusted for sleep disturbance and duration, gender, age, and screen time. Limitations Specific timing of smartphone screen use (e.g., evening use) and/or application content were not collected as part of this study. Conclusions These results conflict with prior evidence demonstrating negative relationships between self-reported smartphone screen use, sleep, and mental health. Further research incorporating objective measurement of smartphone screen use, focusing on critical periods for sleep, may provide a more nuanced picture of this relationship. Results also demonstrate the differing roles of night-time sleep disturbance and daytime sleep-related impairment in mental health. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number: ACTRN12621000132842

Details

Title: Effects of Smartphone Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Young Adults: Going Beyond Self‐Report
Authors: Elena Bild (Corresponding Author) - The University of Queensland
Kalina R Rossa - The University of Queensland
Shannon L Edmed - The University of Queensland
Cassandra L Pattinson - The University of Queensland
Dwayne L Mann - The University of Queensland
Karen A Sullivan - Queensland University of Technology
Paul M Salmon - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
Sylistah Gadam - The University of Queensland
Arvind Gnani Srinivasan - The University of Queensland
Simon S Smith - The University of Queensland
Publication details: Depression and Anxiety, Vol.2025(1), pp.1-11
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1155/da/3249012
ISSN: 1520-6394
PMID: 41321479; PMC12662671
Copyright note: Copyright © 2025 Elena Bild et al. Depression and Anxiety published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Grants: Reducing Crash Risk for Young Drivers: A Randomized Control Trial to Improve Sleep, 1163614, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - NHMRC
ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course, CE200100025, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991184179002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychology, Clinical

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