ABSTRACT
Introduction: Chronic or acute sleep deprivation accentuates emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression. For adolescents the exhaustive study journey, as well as the use of mobile devices, may be preponderant factor to reduce sleep duration. Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the relationship between sleep, screen time on mobile phone and symptoms common to anxiety and depression in higher education students. Methods: Data were collected between July and December 2019, period prior to COVID-19. The study sample consisted of 39 students from three undergraduate courses: Biological Sciences (CB;F=13;M=3;age=21+1.7);Computer Science (LC;F=0;M=13;age=21.5+1.9) and;Agronomic Engineering (EA;F=4;M=7;age=22.1+2.8). Depression level and anxiety were measured through the Depression Inventory (BDI) and Anxiety (BAI) by Beck, respectively. Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) was used to evaluate sleep habits, and Screen Time app to measured screen time on mobile phones. For the statistical study, the software program IBM SPSS, version 23, with two-way Anova with Tukey's post-hoc, and Spearman's correlation test were used. For the statistical study, the softwar IBM SPSS, version 23, with Anova two-way with Tukey posthoc, and correlation test of Spearman were used. Results: During weekdays, students of the EA slept earlier when compared to the other two courses (p= 0.001), but not on free days (p=0.498). Correlation analyses suggest that there is a negative correlation between sleep duration and depressive symptoms on weekdays (r = -0.488;p=0.004). This relationship was also observed between sleep duration and anxiety on weekdays (r = -0.323;p=0.045). Anxiety symptoms were positively associated with total cell phone use time on free days (r = 0.668;p=0.001) and the amount of unlocks on free days (r = 0.354;p=0.027). Conclusion: The shorter the sleep time, the greater the emotional disorders - anxiety and depression -, mainly on weekdays. Screen time on the mobile phone can be a marker for anxiety in the studied group. Just as there are behavioral differences in sleep rhythm between weekdays and free days, the same look should be taken to the analysis of the behavior of the use of cell phones.