Does self-esteem mediate the  relationship between decrease in  smartphone use and decrease in  depressive symptoms and burnout  symptoms in students?

Increased smartphone use has been linked to a number of mental health problems, but little is known about whether limiting smartphone use could reduce mental health problems. In this intervention study among students, the relationship between change in smartphone use and change in depressive symptoms and burnout symptoms was investigated. We also investigated whether this relationship was mediated or moderated by self-esteem. Among 50 Dutch students (94% female, mean age = 19.4 years, SD = 1.4) a questionnaire was administered about smartphone use, depressive symptoms (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale), burnout symptoms (Utrechtse Burnout Scale), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Selfesteem Scale), after which they were either assigned to the intervention group or control group. The intervention group was given five tips to limit their smartphone use and the control group was told they would start the intervention in two weeks and could continue using their phone as usual. Two weeks...Show moreIncreased smartphone use has been linked to a number of mental health problems, but little is known about whether limiting smartphone use could reduce mental health problems. In this intervention study among students, the relationship between change in smartphone use and change in depressive symptoms and burnout symptoms was investigated. We also investigated whether this relationship was mediated or moderated by self-esteem. Among 50 Dutch students (94% female, mean age = 19.4 years, SD = 1.4) a questionnaire was administered about smartphone use, depressive symptoms (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale), burnout symptoms (Utrechtse Burnout Scale), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Selfesteem Scale), after which they were either assigned to the intervention group or control group. The intervention group was given five tips to limit their smartphone use and the control group was told they would start the intervention in two weeks and could continue using their phone as usual. Two weeks later, all participants completed the same questionnaires again and were debriefed about the experiment. Our intervention did not lead to a decrease in smartphone use in the intervention group compared to the control group. The intervention did also not lead to a decrease in depressive symptoms or burnout symptoms and there was no significant relationship between change in smartphone use and change in depressive or burnout symptoms, hence we were not able to perform a mediation analysis. Self-esteem was also not a moderator in these relationships. In conclusion, our intervention on smartphone use does not lead to a decrease in smartphone use, neither does this lead to a decrease in mental health problems such as depression and burnout. However, this might be due to the lack of power and that we had less participants than anticipated, because of COVID-19.Show less

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Does self-esteem mediate the relationship between decrease in smartphone use and decrease in depressive symptoms and burnout symptoms in students?