Nursing and Care
Zhao Y et.al., J Nurs Care 2015, 4:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167-1168.1000253
Research Article
JNC, an open access journal
The Influence of Social Media on Sleep Quality: A Study of Undergraduate Students in Chongqing, China Xiang-Long Xu1-3, Run-Zhi Zhu1-3, Manoj Sharma4 and Yong Zhao1-3* 1School
of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, China
2Research 3The
Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, China
Innovation Center for Social Risk Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, China
4Department
of Behavioral and Environmental Health, Jackson State University, USA
*Corresponding
author: Yong Zhao, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University. No, 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400016, China; Tel: 13883460842; E-mail:
[email protected] Received date: Feb17, 2015; Accepted date: Apr 21, 2015; Published date: Apr 29, 2015
Copyright: © 2015 Xu XL et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract Objectives: We aimed to identify the influence of using social media on the sleep quality of undergraduate students in Chongqing, China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on undergraduate students in Chongqing, China. A multistage stratified sampling was adopted. The study population was composed of 1,444 (72.97%) females and 535 (27.03%) males. Results: More than half of undergraduates who used social networking service websites (66.25%), Fetion (82.68%) microblogs (66.43%), QQ (66.38%), WeChat (63.56%), post bars (62.89%), forums (58.70%), SNS website (37.30) and blogs (27.00%) reported poor sleep quality. We found respondents who were from university of foreign languages or used WeChat were less likely to have poor sleep quality. Further, undergraduates who spent 0.5 to 2 hours before bedtime or above per day on social media were more likely to have poor sleep quality. Conclusions: More than half of undergraduates who use social media experience poor sleep quality. Undergraduates at University of Foreign languages may be less likely to experience poor sleep quality. Using WeChat may be less likely to experience poor sleep quality.
Keywords: Social media; Sleep quality; Undergraduate; China
Background Social media generally refers to a kind of technology and Web site that provides a platform for accessing information, sharing ideas and promoting communication [1]. Over half of adults worldwide use social media platforms [2]. The young users of social media in China account for a large number of proportion. To note, there are a variety of social media in China, and each of them is in possession of a vast number of young users. QQ is ranked as the most popular social media platform in China, followed by WeChat [3]. In addition, Fiction, Microblogs, Post bars, Social networking service (SNS) websites, forums, and blogs are also popular among young people. Previous research studies have shown that overuse of electronic media is related to sleep disorders [4,5]. Moreover, some research studies show that there is an association between Facebook dependence and poor quality of sleep [6]. Mechanisms of the association are diverse and addiction theory is commonly accepted [7]. Poor sleep quality influence related daytime functioning, working memory, and mood of individuals, the academic results of young students, and interfered with their interpersonal interactions [8,9]. However, few college students are aware of the seriousness of poor sleep [10].
J Nurs Care ISSN:2167-1168 Open Access
At present, little is known about the potential association between social media and sleep of undergraduates because the levels of physical activity do not show its beneficial effect to poor sleep quality [11]. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the sleep quality of social media user and how social media interrupt their sleeping behaviors in China, especially undergraduate users. Considering the variety of social media in China, we take more than one social media into study. The purpose of this study was to estimate the influence of social media on the sleep quality of undergraduate students in China by addressing four research questions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Do social media affect the sleep quality of undergraduate students? Which kind of social media affect the sleep quality of undergraduate students? How time spent on using social media relates to the sleep quality in undergraduate students? What factors affect poor sleep quality of undergraduate students?
Methods Study design A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduates in Chongqing. Chongqing University Town is located in the Shapingba
Volume 4 • Issue 3 • 1000253
Citation:
Long Xu X, Zhu RZ, Sharma M, Zhao Y (2015) The Influence of Social Media on Sleep Quality: A Study of Undergraduate Students in Chongqing, China. J Nurs Care 4: 253. doi:10.4172/2167-1168.1000253
Page 2 of 7 district, about 15 km far from the downtown area of Chongqing. In 2010, there were more than 150,000 students in the 17 universities and colleges located in the Chongqing University Town. Multistage stratified sampling was adopted. The 17 universities in Chongqing University Town were classified according to school type. The school was used as the primary sampling unit. We choose five different universities, namely, Chongqing Science and Technology University, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing Medical University, Sichuan International Studies University, and Chongqing University. Freshman, sophomore, and junior students were extracted from each university. Class was used as the secondary sampling unit, and we drew two classes for each grade.
Ethical approval This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chongqing Medical University. A written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Population and sample According to the literature [6], the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 55.0% among the total students population. We set P=0.55. (P=0.55; Q=1-P=1-0.55=0.45) margin of error d=0.1P=0.1×0.50=0.05, Zα=1.96; sampling size=380). Participants were all students attending the eight selected classes. The Participants include 2,100 volunteer undergraduate students, who were selected via probability proportionate sampling. Among the 2,100 students, the response rate is 2,088(99.43%), 9 responses were deleted due to missing data, resulting in a final sample of 1,979 (94.24%) in the analysis. The questionnaire was administered to 5 groups of 10 undergraduate students. The first group comprised students from the Faculty of Medicine. The second group included students from the Faculty of Technology; the third comprised students from the Faculty of Language; the fourth included students from the Faculty of Science and Technology; and the fifth comprised students from the Faculty of Comprehensive. The questionnaire survey administered in June 2014 generated representative data from Chongqing University Town in China. Students were contacted in their classrooms before or after the lectures delivered by a trained student helper. After obtaining written consent, a self-administered questionnaire was offered to the participants for data collection in the classroom. The respondents took 10 to 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The student helper quickly reviewed the responses for completeness of answers.
Questionnaire The questionnaire was developed based on social media and sleeping and designed for the target population. The questionnaire was finalized after repeated discussions with experts and after a pilot investigation. A questionnaire, designed based on probes evidence of social media influence on sleep quality among undergraduate students in Chongqing, China, 2014. The first part—demographic characteristics—gender (male/female), Age(year), Grade(Freshman/ Sophomore/Junior), The only child (Yes/No), Monthly living expense(Less than 500 Yuan/500 Yuan to 800 Yuan/800 Yuan to 1,000 Yuan/More than 1,000 Yuan) Type of University school (Comprehensive University/Medical University/University of foreign languages/Technological University/Normal University). The second part—The questionnaire provided a screening instrument for using social media: 1. Do you use one of the social media platforms (SNS websites, microblogs, QQ, Fetion, WeChat, post bars, forums, and J Nurs Care ISSN:2167-1168 Open Access
blogs) more than once in the recent week? 2. Do you use one of the social media platforms (SNS websites, microblogs, QQ, Fetion, WeChat, post bars, forums, and blogs) more than one hour in the recent week? Respondents who answered "yes" to the two criteria were classified as social media users. The third part—How social media affect sleep quality, including sleep onset latency, multiple arousals during sleep, waking up in the morning, memory, mood and fatigue at work, and feeling upset in the daytime. The present study use the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was created at the University of Pittsburgh to measure the sleep quality of college students, which was used to describe sleep quality as either good or bad and has acceptable validity and reliability. The main outcome of was sleep quality, which is defined as good or poor according to the PSQI [12]. A global score of 6 or greater was defined as the cutoff in determining poor sleep quality [13,14].
Survey implementation A pilot study was conducted in June 2014 to test the feasibility of the proposed study. The pilot test was conducted in a medical university. Sixty individuals participated in the pilot test. During the actual data gathering, participants were randomly selected at each survey site and politely asked about their willingness to participate in the campaign. Those who consented were interviewed face-to-face by researchers to answer every item in the questionnaire. Each interview lasted for approximately 10 to 20 minutes.
Procedures and data collection A complete census was planned to enroll the appropriate sample size. Based on the experience of the pilot study, students were contacted in their classroom before or after lectures by a trained student helper in the current study. The student helper explained the research objectives, and distributed the questionnaire to students who gave written consent to participate. Students were contacted in their classrooms before or after lectures. After informed consent was given, a self-applied questionnaire was provided to the participants for information and data collection. This process took around 10 to 15 minutes. Afterward, a quick review of the questionnaire with the participants was performed to guarantee completeness.
Data analysis The data gathered from the questionnaires were carefully checked before being entered into the database using Epi-data3.1 software. The data were meticulously sorted, cleaned, and analyzed using Statistical Analysis System Software (Version 9.1; SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Incomplete or missing data were excluded. All data entries were double-checked to prevent errors. Descriptive statistics were utilized in data analysis. The characteristics of the participants were summarized using either means and standard deviations or frequencies and percentages, and were presented using descriptive analysis (means, standard deviations, and percentages). Chi-square tests were employed for comparisons when appropriate. The statistical tests included a twosided test. Statistical significance was considered at p
