Associations between mobile phone and computer use and mental health symptoms among young adults - a prospective cohort study

Introduction
Because of the widespread use of information and communication technology (ICT) use in work life and leisure time, it is important to study possible negative effects of the exposure. The overall aim was to investigate whether there are prospective associations between mobile phone use and computer use and mental health symptoms in a prospective cohort of young adults.

Methods
The study group consisted of 4163 young adults 20–24 years old, recruited from the general Swedish population, who responded to a questionnaire at baseline and 1-year follow-up. ICT exposure variables included frequency of mobile phone use and duration of computer use (in general, for leisure time chat/email, and for computer game playing). Mental health outcomes included current stress, sleep disorders, and symptoms of depression. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated for prospective associations between exposure variables at baseline and new cases of mental health outcomes at 1-year follow-up, for men and women separately.

Results
High mobile phone use was associated with new cases of sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression for men, and symptoms of depression for women, at 1-year follow-up. High and medium computer use was associated with sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression for the men. For the men, high chat/email was negatively associated with stress but positively associated with sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression. For the women, high and medium chat/email was associated with stress and sleep disturbances, and high chat/email with symptoms of depression. No clear prospective association between computer game playing and the mental health outcomes were found.

Discussion
High use of ICT, including frequent mobile phone use and high duration of computer use, may be a prospective risk factor for mental health symptoms among young adults.