Association between screen time and depression among US adults

Abstract

Epidemiological surveys conducted in general populations have found that the prevalence of depression is about 9% in the United States. World Health Organization has projected that depression will be leading cause of disease burden by the year 2030. Growing evidence suggests that sedentary lifestyle is an important risk factor of depression among adults. The relationship between television watching/computer use and depression in US adults is still unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between television watching/computer use and depression. This is a cross-sectional study that used the secondary data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) (2011/2012). Participants were 3201 US adults who were 20 years or more. Self-reported Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] was used to classify depression level; self-reported hours of watching TV and use of computer/day, and demographic information were obtained from NHANES data set. SAS®9.4was used to perform all statistical analyses and final model selection procedure. Depression was found to be significantly higher among female. Results showed that moderate or severe depression level was associated with higher time spent on TV watching and use of computer (> 6 h/day) (adjusted odds ratio: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.602–3.442). Duration of screen time was significantly associated when all covariates were adjusted. TV watching and computer use can predict the depression level among adults. Prospective studies and measurement of factors such as: work place sitting, social relationship, and family history of depression are warranted.

Relationships between Physical and Social Behavioural Changes and the Mental Status of Homebound Residents in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In fact, participants who had inadequate physical social interaction and a reduction of face-to-face communication during the pandemic might be more prone to depressive symptoms. Spending more time using screens was significantly associated with developing depressive symptoms [44]. The reduction of time spent having social interactions was correlated to the depressive symptoms [45], whilst infrequent social interaction could also predict higher depressive symptoms [46].…”

Distinct associations of computer/mobile devices use and TV watching with depressive symptoms in adults: A large population study in China

“…On the contrast, the results about computer use are less consistent. While some studies found a positive association between computer use and depression (Madhav, Sherchand, & Sherchan, 2017;Sanchez-Villegas et al, 2008), some were not (Thomée, Eklöf, Gustafsson, Nilsson, & Hagberg, 2007;Thomee, Harenstam, & Hagberg, 2012). Several studies even suggested possible beneficial effects of computer use on cognition and mental health (Kesse-Guyot et al, 2012;Shaw & Gant, 2002).…”

Joint Association of Screen Time and Physical Activity with Obesity: Findings from the Korea Media Panel Study

“…This was because the KMPS does not collect any detailed information on health conditions of each participant. Additionally, recent studies have reported the adverse effects of excessive screen time on mental health, which may also affect the incidence of obesity [ 22 , 39 ]. Therefore, the joint association of screen time and physical activity with obesity must be interpreted cautiously.…”

“…The average daily screen time was categorized into 4 groups based on the distribution of the average daily screen time (< 2, ≥ 2 to < 4, ≥ 4 to < 6, and ≥ 6 hours/day) to stabilize regression estimates. Similar categorizations of average daily screen time have been used in previous studies [ 9 , 21 , 22 ].…”

“…Therefore, screen time including television viewing, is used as a surrogate measure of sedentary behavior. Several studies have investigated the relationship between sedentary behavior or screen time, and health risks amongst children and adolescents [ 14 – 22 ]. It has been hypothesized that increased screen time leads to a poor health status due to reduced physical activity [ 6 ].…”