The relationships between life satisfaction, depression symptoms, solitude and screen time at university students

This research examined the relationship between university students' time spent on the screen, their gender, grade levels, solitude, life satisfaction, and depression levels. In the study, predictive correlational and causal comparison designs were used.The research group comprised 390 university students selected by snowball sampling, enrolled in various undergraduate programs of universities in Turkey, who attended their education remotely because of the COVID-19 closure in 2021-2022. The participants responded Personal Information Form, Types of Being Alone Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale and Beck Depression Inventory.Data analysis was done using the SPSS 26 package program. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the validity of predictions based on the scale scores; Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients were calculated to test the reliability of the scores. Since the research data were not normally distributed, Satora-Bentler correction was applied to the chi-square test in confirmatory factor analyses, and bootstrap confidence intervals were used to evaluate the mediation effect. The coefficients were interpreted as the interpretations based on the scores were valid, and the scores were reliable. As a result of the research, there were no significant differences between the time spent on the screen and the gender and grade levels of the students. In addition, while there was no difference between screen time and solitude levels and life satisfaction, a low positive correlation was observed with depression. Keywords: screen time, being alone, life satisfaction, depression, university students