Can’t stop won’t stop: problematic phone use, sleep quality, and mental health in U.S. Graduate students

Objective: Prior work has suggested the impact of problematic phone use on the mental health of graduate students. This research explores the mediating effect of sleep quality on this link. Participants: A total of 186 graduate students from the United States were collected using an online data acquisition platform. Graduate study areas represented a wide range of subjects. Methods: Participants completed questionnaires about problematic phone use, sleep quality, and both anxiety and depressive symptoms. Phone use was further broken down into time spent on specific phone applications. Results: Analyses revealed significant indirect effects from problematic phone use to both depression and anxiety through diminished sleep quality. Effects were stronger for individuals who spent higher amounts of time on social media applications. Conclusions: Findings suggest that U.S. graduate students are particularly prone to the negative effects of problematic phone use. Implications for interventions in graduate programs are discussed.