Sedentary behavior and mobile phone use in anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorder

A Mendelian randomization study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID17560242
AutoresShuo Feng (0000-0002-3276-7586, Xinyang Normal University, autor de correspondencia), Kuiliang Liu (0000-0001-8163-0394, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports), Zhikai Qin (0009-0005-1319-5147, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports), Haoran He (0000-0002-7340-8643, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports), Wanmeng Bu (Xinyang College of Agriculture and Forestry), Renyi Liu (0000-0002-2534-4171, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports), Yuting Sun (0000-0001-6331-024X, Henan Agricultural University), Shuya Chen (0009-0008-2102-1552, Beijing National Day School, China)
Año2026
Fecha de publicación2026-01-13
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Behavioral Development (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0165-0254 • E-ISSN: 1464-0651
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/01650254251413161
OpenAlexW7123661382
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas39

This two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study investigated causal associations of genetic predisposition to sedentary behaviors (television viewing, computer use, driving) and mobile phone use duration with social anxiety/social phobia, an “anxiety, nerves, or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)” phenotype, and panic attacks. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data were sourced from the IEU OpenGWAS repository, primarily comprising individuals of European ancestry from the UK Biobank (aged 40–69). Independent genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ( p < 5 × 10 −8 ) were selected as instrumental variables. Causal estimates were primarily derived using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) regression, supplemented by sensitivity analyses. Results demonstrated that genetically predicted mobile phone use was associated with increased liability to both social anxiety or social phobia (β = .011, p = .045) and panic attacks (β = .021, p = .033). Conversely, computer use showed a protective association with panic attacks (β = −0.028, p = .010), whereas television viewing was also associated with higher panic attack risk (β = .020, p = .047). These findings indicate modest causal effects of specific digital behaviors on anxiety-related outcomes, though interpretations are constrained by phenotypic and sample limitations

Alprazolam · Anxiety · Anxiety disorder · Causal inference · Mendelian randomization · Panic · Panic disorder · Social anxiety · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Genetic Associations and Epidemiology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents