The Mediating Effect of Eveningness on the Indirect Relationships between Shorter Sleep Duration, Inattention, Depression with Smartphone Addiction Tendency

Objective Smartphones make our lives more convenient. To investigate the relationships between sleep-related habits, inattention, and smartphone addiction tendency (SAT), we determined how chronotype (morningness-eveningness) mediates these factors in Korean college students. Methods Self-rated questionnaires including the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, Adult Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were administered to 1,060 Korean college student smartphone users. This study investigated associations between sleep-related habits, social jetlag, inattention, anxiety, depression and SAT. A path analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships, considering chronotype. Results More social jetlag and smartphone use before bedtime had both direct and indirect relationships with SAT via eveningness in the path analysis model. Participants with shorter exposure to sunlight and more anxiety symptoms had a direct relationship with SAT. Individuals with a depressed mood, shorter sleep duration, and more inattentive features had no significant direct relationship with SAT but they had a significant indirect relationship with SAT via eveningness. Conclusion The findings support the idea that chronotype plays a significant mediating role as a predictor of smartphone addiction. Managing modifiable variables and social jetlag as well as other clinical variables may help prevent and treat smartphone addiction in clinical practice Keywords: Cell phones; Behavior, addictive; Sleep; Circadian rhythm; Depression