Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Dr. Ji Shen

Abstract

Both depression and anxiety have been a focus of scholars since their rates have recently skyrocketed from 5.4 % in 2003 to 20 % currently among teenagers in the United States. Although numerous studies have assessed the association between playing video games and depression, few studies have examined how cyberbullying and screen time contribute to depressive symptoms in teenagers. The purpose of this study was to analyze cyberbullying and screen time on depression in teens. . The exploration of associations between the dependent variable, depression, and the independent variables, screen time, video gaming, and cyberbullying, were guided by Bandura’s social cognitive theory to learn the psychological effects of the participants and Social economic model (SEM) to answer the research questions. Participants were teenagers aged 13 to 17. Retrospective secondary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; N= 10,909) were analyzed using binomial logistic regression for multivariate analysis and chi-square for bivariate analysis Results revealed a significant positive association between video gaming, long screen time, and cyberbullying in relation to teenage depression. The social change implication of this study is a better understanding of the relationship between depression in teenagers as it relates to screen time, video gaming, and cyberbullying for caregivers, parents, teachers, public health professionals and teenagers themselves such that these stakeholders can better address and remove factors that increase anxiety and depression in teenagers. These findings could also reduce violence and suicidal cases that are linked to depression.

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