relation between anxiety and mobile addication and poor sleep quality in children population in covid_19 epidemi.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, most students experienced problems such as home quarantine, being away from school, online classes, and the fear and anxiety of contracting Covid-19. Anxiety may be directly linked to disrupted sleeping habits and cell phone overuse. The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation between anxiety level, cell phone addiction, and declined sleep quality in elementary school students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This correlational study was conducted using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. In total, 210 male fifth-grade elementary school students of District 19 of Tehran Province, Iran in the academic year 2021-2022 were selected by convenience sampling. The participants responded to the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (2003), Owens’ Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (2000), and Koo HY’s cell phone addiction scale (2009). To test the research hypothesis, hierarchical multiple regression and SPSS version 26 were used.

The obtained results indicated a positive significant correlation between anxiety and cell phone addiction and between the anxiety and sleep quality of the students. Further, sleep quality can better explain students’ anxiety compared to cell phone addiction.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, increased anxiety levels in children lead to poor sleep quality, while also increasing their tendency to use smartphones. Therefore, child psychologists must pay special attention to the destructive effects of anxiety and its negative consequences, such as declined sleep quality and cell phone dependency.