Frontiers in pediatrics
Association between discretionary screen time and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a cross-sectional study
By Xu Z, Yang S, Wang S and 1 others.
Abstract
Background
Adolescents globally exhibit growing engagement with discretionary screen time, but its association with depressive symptoms remains unclear in developing economies.
Objective
To examine the relationship between discretionary screen time and depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 4,706 adolescents in Maoming City, Guangdong Province, China. Participants were stratified into four discretionary screen time categories: <1 h (n = 1,372), 1-2 h (n = 1,277), 2-4 h (n = 1,032), and ≥4 h (n = 1,025). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the validated CESD-9, with a cutoff score of ≥10. The primary analysis was a multilevel logistic regression model with random intercepts for school and class, adjusted for all measured covariates except BMI, anxiety and insomnia; a model additionally adjusted for BMI, anxiety and insomnia served as a sensitivity analysis. Subgroup analyses evaluated potential effect modification.