How changes in the PER3 gene may influence the link between problematic phone use and sleep patterns in young Chinese adults, with differences between men and women
The prevalence of (PMPU) among young adults is 24.6%.
Morning (M-types) accounted for 18.4% of young adults, while neutral chronotypes (N-types) comprised 71.1%, and evening chronotypes (E-types) made up 10.5%.
PMPU is positively correlated with evening chronotypes, with an odds ratio of 3.53.
This association is significant only among females, showing an odds ratio of 5.36.
PER3 gene DNA methylation negatively moderates the relationship between PMPU and chronotypes, with variations based on sex.
Simplified
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the rates of (PMPU) and in young adults, and examine the associations of PMPU with chronotypes, as well as its gender differences. Furthermore, we explored the moderating role of PER3 gene DNA methylation on the associations.
METHODS: From April to May 2019, a total of 1,179 young adults were selected from 2 universities in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces. The Self-rating Questionnaire for Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use (SQAPMPU) and reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ) were adopted to investigate PMPU and chronotypes in young adults, respectively. Moreover, 744 blood samples were collected to measure PER3 gene DNA methylation. Multivariate logistic regression models were established to analyze the associations between PMPU and chronotypes. Moderating analysis was used to determine whether PER3 gene DNA methylation moderated the relationships between PMPU and chronotypes.
RESULTS: The prevalence of PMPU, morning chronotypes (M-types), neutral chronotypes (N-types), and evening chronotypes (E-types) of young adults were 24.6%, 18.4%, 71.1%, and 10.5%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression results indicated that PMPU was positively correlated with E-types (OR = 3.53, 95%CI: 2.08-6.00), and the association was observed only in females after stratified by gender (OR = 5.36, 95%CI: 2.70-10.67). Furthermore, PER3 gene DNA methylation has a negative moderating role between PMPU and chronotypes and has a sex-based difference.
CONCLUSIONS: This study can provide valuable information for the prevention and control of circadian rhythm disturbance among young adults from the perspective of epidemiology and biological etiology.
Key numbers
24.6%
Prevalence
Percentage of young adults exhibiting .
3.53
E-types Association
Odds Ratio indicating the association between and E-types.
5.36
Female E-types Association
Odds Ratio for the association between and E-types in females.
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Funding sources: The National Natural Science Foundation of China supported this work (grant number: 82173542, 82373592, 82304169). Author contributions: Conceived and designed the experiments: Fangbiao Tao. Wrote the paper: Tingting Li. Performed the experiments: Shuman Tao, Yajuan Yang. Analyzed the data: Tingting Li, Yuming Chen. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: Yang Xie, Liwei Zou. Contributed to study design: Xiaoyan Wu. Conflict of interest: None.
