Objective@#To describe the
prevalence of
cell phone dependence and
anxiety-
depression co
morbidity among college
students, and to explore the
association between
cell phone dependence and
anxiety-
depression co
morbidity among college
students, in order to provide a reference basis for promoting the development of college
students mental health.@*
Methods@#Using a
prospective study design,
baseline survey was conducted in April-May 2019 among a random whole group sample of 1 135 individuals in two
universities in Hefei, Anhui Province and Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, and a follow up
survey was conducted in November 2019 among the sampled
population, with a valid number of 1 110 individuals after matching with the
baseline survey. The
Self rating
Questionnaire for
Adolescent Problematic
Mobile Phone Use (SQAPMPU) was used to assess college
students cell phone dependence, and the
Depression Anxiety Stress
Self Rating Scale (DASS-21) to assess
depression,
anxiety, and
anxiety depression co
morbidity symptoms, and the
self administered
Health Related Behavior and
Mental Health Questionnaire for College
Students to
report sleep duration.@*Results@#The
detection rates of
cell phone dependence among college
students at baseline and follow up surveys were 24.5% and 27.7%, respectively, and the
detection rates of
anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and
anxiety depression co
morbidities were 28.7%, 21.3%, and 18.4%, respectively. The results of the binary
Logistic regression model showed that
cell phone dependence was positively associated with the
risk of
anxiety depression co morbid symptoms among college
students at baseline ( OR =5.79, 95% CI =4.06-8.24) and after six months of follow up ( OR =2.62, 95% CI =1.86-3.69) ( P <0.01). The results of the moderating effect
analysis showed that
sleep duration moderated the
association between
cell phone dependence and
anxiety depression co
morbidities, and the interaction term was statistically significant ( β =0.08, 0.04, P <0.01).@*Conclusion@#
Cell phone dependence in college
students increases the
risk of depressive and
anxiety co morbid symptoms, and
sleep mitigates effect of
cell phone dependence on depressive and
anxiety co morbid symptoms in college
students.