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Computer use, sleep duration and health symptoms: a cross-sectional study of 15-year olds in three countries

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigated whether computer use is associated with health symptoms through sleep duration among 15-year olds in Finland, France and Denmark.

Methods

We used data from the WHO cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study collected in Finland, France and Denmark in 2010, including data on 5,402 adolescents (mean age 15.61 (SD 0.37), girls 53 %). Symptoms assessed included feeling low, irritability/bad temper, nervousness, headache, stomachache, backache, and feeling dizzy. We used structural equation modeling to explore the mediating effect of sleep duration on the association between computer use and symptom load.

Results

Adolescents slept approximately 8 h a night and computer use was approximately 2 h a day. Computer use was associated with shorter sleep duration and higher symptom load. Sleep duration partly mediated the association between computer use and symptom load, but the indirect effects of sleep duration were quite modest in all countries.

Conclusions

Sleep duration may be a potential underlying mechanism behind the association between computer use and health symptoms.

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Acknowledgments

This study is based on the WHO supported Health Behaviour among School-aged Children Study (HBSC). We thank the International Coordinator of the 2009/2010 study, Candace Currie, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Data Bank Manager, Oddrun Samdal, University of Bergen, Norway. In addition, we also thank the Juho Vainio Foundation for funding this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland

    Teija Nuutinen, Eva Roos & Carola Ray

  2. Department of Public Health, Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Teija Nuutinen & Eva Roos

  3. Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jari Villberg, Raili Välimaa & Jorma Tynjälä

  4. National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Mette Rasmussen & Bjørn Holstein

  5. Research Unit on Perinatal Epidemiology and Childhood Disabilities, Adolescent Health, Inserm, UMR1027, Université de Toulouse III, Toulouse, France

    Emmanuelle Godeau

  6. Service medical du rectorat de Toulouse, Rectorat annexe, Toulouse cedex 6, France

    Emmanuelle Godeau

  7. Institut national de prévention et d’éducation pour la santé, Paris, France

    Francois Beck

  8. French Monitoring Center on Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), Saint-Denis, France

    Francois Beck

  9. PRES Paris Cité Sorbonne, APHP, Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Francois Beck & Damien Léger

Authors
  1. Teija Nuutinen
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  2. Eva Roos
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  3. Carola Ray
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  4. Jari Villberg
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  5. Raili Välimaa
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  6. Mette Rasmussen
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  7. Bjørn Holstein
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  8. Emmanuelle Godeau
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  9. Francois Beck
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  10. Damien Léger
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  11. Jorma Tynjälä
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teija Nuutinen.

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Nuutinen, T., Roos, E., Ray, C. et al. Computer use, sleep duration and health symptoms: a cross-sectional study of 15-year olds in three countries. Int J Public Health 59, 619–628 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0561-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0561-y

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