If you’re reading this in your mobile bed, you’re not alone. Many use mobile phones before bed and beyond, especially young adults and teens.
Still, you might want to quickly call it night (after reading this, of course). Extended screen times before bed, or in bed, are widely suspected to disrupt sleep, but dynamic details remain unknown.
In the new study, researchers tried to shed more light on the issue using data from a large-scale survey of 45,202 Norway university students.
Screening times in bed have been studied to be associated with 59% higher odds for insomnia, resulting in 24 minutes less total sleep per night.
However, people use screens in many ways, some of which can affect their sleep more than others. Will TV be as disrupting your sleep as you would social media?
Some Previous research Social media suggests that this is especially true Bad sleepmore than other types of screen time. However, few studies have directly compared the effects on various screen-based activities and sleep.
Most of the research that did so focused on teenagers, the researchers point out.
The new study features slightly older demographics ranging from 18 to 28 years old; Student Health and Happiness Research 2022a nationally representative study of Norwegian students.
The study includes demographic information about students and several health and lifestyle factors, including screen use and sleep.
“Sleep problems are very common among students and have a major impact on mental health, academic achievement and overall well-being, but previous research focuses primarily on adolescents.” say Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland, clinical psychologist at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
“Given the widespread use of screens in bed, we aimed to explore the relationship between different screen activities and sleep patterns,” she said. say. “We expected that social media use could be more strongly associated with lack of sleep given its interactive nature and potential emotional stimulation.”
However, the findings show that social media use was less disrupted sleep than other screen-based activities.
“The types of screen activity look less important than what you spent all your time using the screen in bed,” says Hjetland. say.
“We found no significant differences between social media and other screen activities, suggesting that screen use itself is a key factor in sleep disruption, perhaps due to time displacement.
Participants reported whether electronic media was used in bed and how long they were used. They specified whether they were watching movies and TV, checking social media, browsing the internet, listening to audio, and reading game-related content.
The researchers grouped these into three broader categories. Just social media, social media, social media and other screen-based activities.
Additionally, participants reported bedtime and rising times, how long it took them to fall asleep, whether they had trouble falling asleep, whether they had trouble sleeping, feeling sleepy during the day, and periods of sleep disorders.
Those who report increasing screen time after breastfeeding are much more likely to report symptoms of insomnia, the study found.
Certain activities appear less important than the total screen time, suggesting that screen usage may be reduced Instead of increasing awakening, it replaces rest and sleeps.
There are some notable warnings. For example, although the sample size is large, there is no cultural diversity to allow for widespread generalization of the findings.
This study grouped many screen-based activities together, obscuring the possibility of nuances in a narrower category.
And while this study shows correlations, it cannot reveal causality. People who check social media actually report that they have improved their sleep overall, but impact could go either way.
“Another interpretation is that social media use is not a favorable activity for students who struggle most with sleep.” The researcher writes.
Some students may choose activities that they consider to be more calm, such as using technology as a sleep aid and watching movies or listening to music instead of Dookscrolling.
“If you are struggling with sleep and suspect that screen time is a factor, try reducing screen use in bed and stopping at least 30-60 minutes before sleep,” says Hjetland. say. “If you use the screen, consider disabling notifications to minimize nighttime confusion.”
This study was published in Frontiers of psychiatry.
