Computer use, sleep duration and health symptoms: a cross-sectional study of 15-year olds in three countries.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated whether computer use is associated with health symptoms through sleep duration among 15-year olds in Finland, France and Denmark.


METHODS
We used data from the WHO cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study collected in Finland, France and Denmark in 2010, including data on 5,402 adolescents (mean age 15.61 (SD 0.37), girls 53%). Symptoms assessed included feeling low, irritability/bad temper, nervousness, headache, stomachache, backache, and feeling dizzy. We used structural equation modeling to explore the mediating effect of sleep duration on the association between computer use and symptom load.


RESULTS
Adolescents slept approximately 8 h a night and computer use was approximately 2 h a day. Computer use was associated with shorter sleep duration and higher symptom load. Sleep duration partly mediated the association between computer use and symptom load, but the indirect effects of sleep duration were quite modest in all countries.


CONCLUSIONS
Sleep duration may be a potential underlying mechanism behind the association between computer use and health symptoms.
Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland, teija.nuutinen@helsinki.fi.
Teija
T
Nuutinen
Eva
E
Roos
Carola
C
Ray
Jari
J
Villberg
Raili
R
Välimaa
Mette
M
Rasmussen
Bjørn
B
Holstein
Emmanuelle
E
Godeau
Francois
F
Beck
Damien
D
Léger
Jorma
J
Tynjälä
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*