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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1473752

Combined effect of the smartphone addiction and physical activity on the depressive symptoms in secondary school students: A cross sectional study in Shanghai, China

Provisionally accepted
Rui Yang Rui Yang 1Shuoyuan Tan Shuoyuan Tan 1Gulqihra Abdukerima Gulqihra Abdukerima 1Ting Lu Ting Lu 2Chen Chen Chen Chen 3Lixin Song Lixin Song 4Bing Ji Bing Ji 3Yipeng Lv Yipeng Lv 1*Jianwei Shi Jianwei Shi 5,6*
  • 1 School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 3 Shanghai Jing'an District Jiangning Road Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, China
  • 4 Shanghai Jing'an District Jiangning Road Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, Christmas Island
  • 5 Department of General Practice, Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 6 Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction, physical activity levels, and depressive symptoms among secondary school students, and to analyze the combined impact of smartphone addiction and physical activity on depressive symptoms. Methods: A cluster sampling method was employed in four secondary schools in the Jing’an District of Shanghai, China. Univariate analysis was used to compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms across different demographic characteristics. Logistic regression was utilized to examine the associations between smartphone addiction, physical activity, and their combined effect on depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 1,316 respondents participated in the study, with reported prevalence rates of depressive symptoms (36.2%), smartphone addiction (19.2%), and insufficient physical activity (23.3%). Risk factors for depressive symptoms included being a non-only child (OR=1.421, 95% CI: 1.090-1.853, P=0.009), inadequate sleep duration (OR=2.722, 95% CI: 2.070-3.578, P＜0.001) and smartphone addiction (OR=2.173, 95% CI: 1.621-2.913, P < 0.001). Adolescents with smartphone addiction were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to those without (OR=2.173, 95% CI: 1.621-2.913, P < 0.001). Joint analysis indicated that combined smartphone addiction and insufficient physical activity significantly increased the risk of depressive symptoms (OR=2.781, 95% CI: 1.627-4.753, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The study identified a high prevalence of severe smartphone addiction, insufficient physical activity, and elevated rates of depressive symptoms among secondary school students. Smartphone addiction and inadequate physical activity were associated with increased likelihood of depressive symptoms. Moreover, higher levels of physical activity appeared to mitigate the adverse impact of smartphone addiction on depressive symptoms.

    Keywords: depressive symptoms, Smartphone addiction, physical activity, adolescents, China

    Received: 07 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yang, Tan, Abdukerima, Lu, Chen, Song, Ji, Lv and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yipeng Lv, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
    Jianwei Shi, Department of General Practice, Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

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