Key Research
Digital Media and Sleep In Childhood and Adolescence
Key Takeaways:
- Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality are associated with daytime tiredness, poor school performance, and a host of psychological problems
- Use of screens before bed creates:
- time displacement (ie, time spent on screens replaces time spent sleeping and other activities)
- psychological stimulation based on media content
- light emitted from devices effects circadian timing, sleep physiology, and alertness
- Limitations: observational nature of research many interfere with casualty; self-reporting is also promatic
- To promote healthy sleep habits, remove the phone/screen from the bedroom ideally one hour before sleep
LiveMore ScreenLess’ Summary
Have you ever started the morning with regret for the hour of sleep you lost to scrolling through Instagram the night before? If so, you may have experienced time displacement—one of several possible explanations for the unfavorable relationship between screen use and sleep. In a systematic literature review, researchers found that a majority (90%) of 67 studies identified adverse associations between screen time and sleep health for young people. Previously cited research reviewed also indicates that a majority of studies saw a relationship between tiredness and screen time. Numerous factors are suspected to play a role in moderating these relationships, including psychological stimulation from content consumed, and the impacts of screen light on sleep patterns—both of which are strongly associated with delayed bedtimes and decreased overall sleep time.
Monique K. LeBourgeois, Lauren Hale, Anne-Marie Chang, Lameese D. Akacem, Hawley E. Montgomery-Downs, Orfeu M. Buxton; Digital Media and Sleep in Childhood and Adolescence. Pediatrics November 2017; 140 (Supplement_2): S92–S96.
Topics: Sleep
Year: 2017
Participants: children and adolescents (aged 5–17)
Hosting University: University of Colorado, Boulder
Data Collection: systematic literature review
