Every hour of screen time before bedtime increased the risk of insomnia by 59 percent
Norwegian scientists have calculated that each additional hour of screen time before bed increases the risk of insomnia by 59 percent. For this purpose, they conducted a survey on the distribution of screen time and sleep quality among 45202 students. And the chances of experiencing insomnia were 35 percent higher for people who combined social media use with other online activity compared to those who only sat on social media. The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Studies on the effects of screen time have typically focused on children and adolescents. For these age groups, researchers found an association between increased screen time before bedtime and difficulty falling asleep and sleepiness during the day. There is less data for other groups, although, for example, students spend about 12 hours a day watching screens. High amounts of screen time before bedtime are also associated with difficulty falling asleep, shorter sleep duration, and frequent night awakenings.
In addition, the impact of specific screen activity (social media, internet surfing, watching videos) is poorly understood. Therefore, a group of scientists led by Boerge Sivertesn (Boerge Sivertesn) from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health looked at how screen time is distributed among Norwegian students before bedtime and how it relates to sleep quality. The study involved 45202 participants (aged 18 to 28 years). The participants were asked if they spend screen time before bed and what content they prefer. Also, data on sleep quality was collected from students using questionnaires. For statistical analysis, the scientists applied logistic regression and linear regression.
It turned out that those students who do not use gadgets before going to bed have a 24 percent lower chance of having insomnia symptoms than those who do. Researchers calculated that each extra hour behind a screen increased the risk of insomnia by 59 percent.
The researchers then compared how sleep quality differed between the group of those who sat exclusively on social media before going to bed and those who, in addition, engaged in other internet activity. The chances of experiencing insomnia were 35 percent higher in the second group.
The work has its limitations: it did not take into account what content the participants were viewing, nor did it take into account data about their mental health, eating habits and other factors affecting sleep. All of this should be the subject of further research in this area.
Long periods of computer and cell phone use are associated not only with an increased risk of insomnia, but also with increased levels of stress and depressive symptoms in adolescence. This is the conclusion reached by Finnish scientists in their study.