Objective To investigate the screen time of primary school students in Shenzhen during the COVID-19 outbreak, and to analyze the association between the screen time and emotional problems of primary school students. Methods A cohort study design was designed. Students from two primary schools in Shenzhen completed questionnaire survey in 2019 and 2021, including screen time, Morning and Evening Questionnaire-5(MEQ-5), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). The paired t-test was used to analyze the differences in screen use of primary school students before and during the middle period of COVID-19, and Logistic regression was used to analyze the impact of screen time on emotion. Results The differences in computer time on weekdays, TV time on weekdays, cell phone time on weekdays, computer time on holidays, and TV time on holidays were not statistically significant compared with the pre- and mid-epidemic periods among primary school students in Shenzhen (P>0.05), but the proportion of cell phone use ≥2h/d on holidays in mid-epidemic period was significantly higher than that of pre-epidemic period(χ2=4.785, P<0.05). Protective factors for depression among elementary school students in the pre-epidemic period included cell phone time ≥2h/d on weekdays(OR=0.258, 95% CI: 0.133 - 0.500), and protective factors for anxiety included cell phone time≥2h/d on weekdays(OR=0.436, 95% CI: 0.206 - 0.923) and weekday TV time ≥2h/d (OR= 0.377, 95%CI: 0.180 - 0.790); protective factors for depression among elementary school students in mid-epidemic period were TV time ≥2h/d on weekdays(OR=0.424, 95% CI: 0.202 - 0.890) and cell phone time ≥2h/d on holidays(OR=0.308, 95% CI: 0.162 - 0.585), and sleep rhythms for early morning type was a risk factor for depression among elementary school students in mid-epidemic period (OR=5.817, 95%CI:1.790 - 18.898), and a protective factor for anxiety among elementary school students inmid-epidemic period was cell phone use ≥2h/d on weekdays(OR=0.388, 95% CI:0.179 - 0.842). Conclusion Primary school students in Shenzhen spend more time using mobile phones during holidays in mid-epidemic period than pre-epidemic period, and appropriate screen time could alleviate anxiety and depression in primary school students.
Key words
COVID-19 /
screen time /
emotion /
primary school students /
mental health
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