# Mobile Screen Time and Depressive Symptoms among College Students

> **NIH NIH R15** · JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY INC · 2021 · $311,852

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
In line with the funding goals of the National Institute of Mental Health and PAR-18-714, this application proposes
a research project that investigates the relationship between smartphone use, social media needs, and
depressive symptoms. College students today are suffering more than ever from depressive symptoms, finding
it difficult to function, and risking chronic or recurrent disorders and longstanding morbidity. Despite the
identification of various risk factors in the literature, the causal mechanisms are not well understood. Recent
research suggests that excessive mobile screen time may be linked with depressive symptoms, as well as other
physical, psychological, social, and neurological adverse consequences. The majority of published studies,
however, occurred outside of the United States, used a cross-sectional study design, or focused solely on
smartphone addiction as opposed to screen time, so a gap remains in our knowledge of the causal relationship
between screen time and depression. This study will test if objective measures of mobile phone screen time,
through the collection of submitted screenshots, app usage, and social media needs, are associated with change
in depressive symptoms in a cohort of U.S. college students. At the end of this project, the research team will
have: a) identified consistent patterns of objective measured mobile screen time, app usage, and social media
needs; b) assessed associations between those patterns with existing levels of depressive symptoms in a cross-
sectional analysis; and c) determined if those patterns are predictive of longitudinal changes in depressive
symptoms. The use of objective screen time measures is an innovative, feasible, and less biased way to measure
patterns of mobile screen use and app use among the U.S. college student population. Moreover, this will be the
first prospective, observational study evaluating the association between mobile screen time and changes in
depressive symptoms. Understanding relationships between patterns of screen time and depressive symptoms
will allow clinicians and researchers in future NIH-funded studies to: 1) better, more objectively identify college
students at high risk for depression; 2) develop further understanding of the role of mobile screen time in the
etiology of depression; and 3) ultimately implement targeted mobile-health interventions to address college
student depression. Further, undergraduate student research assistants involved in the study will gain firsthand
experience implementing online data collection, executing a prospective cohort study, and applying intermediate
and advanced statistical tests; they will also be authors on peer-reviewed manuscripts and present at relevant
conferences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10291002
- **Project number:** 1R15MH124033-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Samantha Robyn Rosenthal
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $311,852
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-18 → 2025-06-17

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10291002

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10291002, Mobile Screen Time and Depressive Symptoms among College Students (1R15MH124033-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10291002. Licensed CC0.

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