title: Influence of WeChat on sleep quality among undergraduates in Chongqing, China: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies showed that social media is associated with sleep quality. WeChat (a native social media in China) is very popular in China, especially among the youth. In the second quarter of 2016, Tencent's WeChat had 806 million monthly active users. The study sought to identify the influence of WeChat on the sleep quality among undergraduate students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey adopted a multi-stage stratified sampling survey to investigate undergraduates in Chongqing, China. Data were collected on 1979 eligible adults, aged 20.27 (SD: 1.26) years old, using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to measure sleep quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents aged 20.27 ± 1.26 years included 535 (27.0%) males, and 1311 (66.3%) reported as having poor sleep quality. Of the 1979 participants, 1320 (66.70%) were WeChat users. In multivariable analyses, gender, grade, nationality, living costs, the student leader, the only child, type of university, WeChat usage was associated with domains of PSQI among undergraduates (p< 0.05 for all). Compared with non-users, WeChat users had a lower score of subjective quality of sleep, sleep latency, use of sleeping medication, daytime dysfunction, and global PSQI score (p< 0.05 for all).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WeChat users may have better sleep quality than non-WeChat users among undergraduates. To determine causal relationships, further longitudinal studies will be required to test for the association between WeChat users and sleep quality. This study may also provide some implications for health promotion on sleep quality of undergraduate students.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Social Risks Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China.
authors.forename: Xianglong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of the Second Clinical, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016 China.
authors.forename: Qianyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Social Risks Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Social Risks Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China.
authors.forename: Runzhi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Environmental Health, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39213 USA.
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China ; Collaborative Innovation Center of Social Risks Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016 China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: China; Sleep quality; Social media; Undergraduates; WeChat