Ay Merve Kurnaz, Topuzoğlu Ahmet, Altaş Zeynep Meva
Department of Public Health, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, 34854, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Department of Public Health, Maltepe District Health Directorate, 34841, Istanbul, Türkiye.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Dec 18;24(1):3502. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-21075-7.
Previous studies indicate an increasing prevalence of depression among university students worldwide. Besides, university students are more likely to excessively use smartphones, making them more susceptible to smartphone addiction. Pandemic conditions can also have negative effects on mental health. Thus, this study aims to investigate the frequency of depression among university students during COVID-19 pandemic.
The study population for this mixed-method research, which includes both qualitative and quantitative components, consists of students studying health sciences at a state university in Istanbul, Türkiye. No sample was selected for the quantitative data collection; instead, it was aimed to reach the entire population. Sociodemographic characteristics, the 10-item Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), and the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used. In the qualitative part of our study, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 12 students. Statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05.
The study, involving 819 students, found that 25.2% had moderate depression and 5.7% had severe depression. A statistically significant relationship was found between self-perceived smartphone addiction and the presence of moderate-severe depression (p < 0.001). Participants who spent more than 4 h a day on their smartphones, those who checked their smartphones more than 30 times a day, those who perceived themselves as smartphone addicts, and those who experienced smartphone-related sleep problems obtained statistically significantly higher scores from BDI compared to others (p < 0.05). According to our qualitative results, some participants thought that smartphone use could cause a depressive mood by isolating people, while others believed it could do so through the negative effects of social media. All participants reported that the quarantine period increased their smartphone usage.
Our results suggest a potential interaction between smartphone addiction and depression. This indicates the potential benefit of assessing and addressing both conditions simultaneously.
先前的研究表明，全球大学生中抑郁症的患病率呈上升趋势。此外，大学生更有可能过度使用智能手机，这使他们更容易患上智能手机成瘾症。疫情状况也可能对心理健康产生负面影响。因此，本研究旨在调查新冠疫情期间大学生抑郁症的发病频率。
这项混合方法研究包括定性和定量两个部分，研究对象为土耳其伊斯坦布尔一所国立大学健康科学专业的学生。定量数据收集未选取样本，而是旨在涵盖全体学生。使用了社会人口学特征、10项智能手机成瘾量表简版（SAS-SV）和21项贝克抑郁量表（BDI）。在我们研究的定性部分，对12名学生进行了半结构化在线访谈。统计学显著性水平设定为p < 0.05。
该研究涉及819名学生，发现25.2%的学生患有中度抑郁症，5.7%的学生患有重度抑郁症。自我感知的智能手机成瘾与中度至重度抑郁症的存在之间存在统计学显著关系（p < 0.001）。与其他人相比，每天花在智能手机上超过4小时的参与者、每天查看智能手机超过30次的参与者、认为自己是智能手机成瘾者的参与者以及经历过与智能手机相关睡眠问题的参与者，其BDI得分在统计学上显著更高（p < 0.05）。根据我们的定性结果，一些参与者认为使用智能手机会使人孤立从而导致抑郁情绪，而另一些人则认为是社交媒体的负面影响所致。所有参与者都报告称隔离期增加了他们对智能手机的使用。
我们的结果表明智能手机成瘾与抑郁症之间可能存在相互作用。这表明同时评估和解决这两种情况可能具有潜在益处。
