The Relationship among Insomnia, Depressive Symptoms and General Happiness among Hong Kong Adolescents

Abstract

Objectives: To study the relationship among insomnia, depressive symptoms and happiness among adolescents in Hong Kong.

Method: Questionnaire were delivered to and completed by 239, F.6 and F.7 students in three secondary schools and 321, college students in universities in Hong Kong. Participants were required to fill in the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Depression Scales by Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CES-D) and the Happiness scale.

Results: 267 of participants met the clinical criteria for depression and another 267 respondents were in the clinical level of insomnia. The difference in depressive symptoms was significant between insomnia group and non-insomnia group (t=12.37, p<.001). People with higher happiness level experienced significantly less depressive symptoms (t=11.98, p<.001). The result shows that the combination of insomnia and happiness level had a significant effect of predicting the level of depressive symptoms (R2=.49, F(2,561)=272.46, p<.001). There was significant gender difference in level of depressive symptoms (t=2.39, p<.05) and the educational background contributed to the significant difference in depressive experience (t=4.67, p<.001).

Conclusions: The findings suggested that the prevalence of depression and insomnia were high among Hong Kong adolescents as compared with Western findings. The implications of this study were discussed in light of mental health of adolescents and university students in Hong Kong.