Augner Christoph, Vlasak Thomas, Aichhorn Wolfgang, Barth Alfred
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, University Clinics of the Paracelsus Medical University, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
Institute for Human Resources Research in Health Care, University Clinics of the Paracelsus Medical University, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
J Public Health (Oxf). 2023 Mar 14;45(1):193-201. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab350.
Recent research links problematic smartphone use (PSU) and mental health problems. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between PSU and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.
We searched for research literature published recently in PubMed and Google Scholar via a systematic literature search. Twenty-seven studies published since 2014 with 120 895 participants were included in the meta-analysis.
PSU was moderately but robustly associated with both anxiety, r = 0.29 (95% CI: 0.23-0.35), and depression, r = 0.28 (95% CI: 0.22-0.34), P < 0.001 for both. Homogeneity tests showed significant P-values for anxiety and depression, but without affecting the results. Neither the age of the participants, publication year nor the study quality could explain the heterogeneity. Furthermore, we found no evidence for publication bias, since Egger's regression test showed no significance for depression (P = 0.21) and anxiety (P = 0.35).
Our study shows that PSU can be viewed as an indicator of symptoms of anxiety and depression and a possible manifestation of these mental health problems in modern society. Furthermore, PSU as a maladaptive coping behavior may contribute by worsening these symptoms. PSU screening should thus become part of standard clinical psychological diagnostic procedures.
近期研究将问题性智能手机使用（PSU）与心理健康问题联系起来。本荟萃分析的目的是评估PSU与焦虑和/或抑郁症状之间的关系。
我们通过系统的文献检索在PubMed和谷歌学术上搜索近期发表的研究文献。纳入荟萃分析的有2014年以来发表的27项研究，共120895名参与者。
PSU与焦虑呈中度但显著的相关性，r = 0.29（95%CI：0.23 - 0.35），与抑郁也呈中度但显著的相关性，r = 0.28（95%CI：0.22 - 0.34），两者P均<0.001。齐性检验显示焦虑和抑郁的P值均有统计学意义，但不影响结果。参与者年龄、发表年份及研究质量均无法解释异质性。此外，我们未发现发表偏倚的证据，因为Egger回归检验显示抑郁（P = 0.21）和焦虑（P = 0.35）均无统计学意义。
我们的研究表明，PSU可被视为焦虑和抑郁症状的一个指标，以及现代社会中这些心理健康问题的一种可能表现形式。此外，PSU作为一种适应不良的应对行为可能会加重这些症状。因此，PSU筛查应成为标准临床心理诊断程序的一部分。
