The impact of smartphone dependence on college students' sleep quality: the chain-mediated role of negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors.

Objective: Sleep disturbances among college students have become a significant issue affecting their daily lives. This study aims to explore the relationship between smartphone dependence and sleep quality and examine the mediating roles of negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors.

Methods: A total of 23,652 college students were included in the study, and 21,314 valid questionnaires were collected. The survey assessed demographic factors, smartphone dependence, sleep quality, negative emotions, and health-promoting behaviors. A chain mediation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among these factors.

Results: Smartphone dependence was significantly positively correlated with sleep quality ( = 0.272,  < 0.001) and negative emotions ( = 0.414,  < 0.001), and significantly negatively correlated with health-promoting behaviors ( = -0.178,  < 0.001). Sleep quality was positively correlated with negative emotions ( = 0.472,  < 0.001) and negatively correlated with health-promoting behaviors ( = -0.218,  < 0.001).Smartphone dependence was a significant positive predictor of sleep quality. Moreover, negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors influenced the relationship between smartphone dependence and sleep quality. The total effect, direct effect, and indirect effect values were 0.304, 0.122, and 0.170, respectively.

Conclusion: Different demographic factors (such as gender and place of residence) can lead to variations in different variables. Smartphone dependence and negative emotions have a positive impact on sleep quality among college students, while health-promoting behaviors have a negative impact. Smartphone dependence directly and positively affects sleep quality and can also influence it indirectly through the mediating effects of negative emotions and health-promoting behaviors, both individually and in a chain-like manner.