Do you feel that you cannot be without your cellphone? Are you a student struggling with stress and sleeping patterns? 

In this interesting study, Wang and colleagues investigated how the time spent watching TV, computer use, and cellphone use contribute to anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in university students.

 These researchers found that more prolonged smartphone use was associated with worse scores for depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. Intriguingly, they suggest a possible bidirectional and multifactorial relationship between smartphone use and depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. In other words, excessively using your smartphone (particularly at night) might negatively affect your sleep, which, in turn, influences stress and depression levels. It may also be that depression and anxiety lead to an overuse of the smartphone. 

So, if your goal for this year is to improve your health and academic achievements, it might be a good option to start by reducing the time you spend on your phone. You may see an improvement in both your sleep quality and your mental health.

Beatriz Portillo | Associate Editor
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal