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Scientists have discovered one more reason to place the cellphone down: a survey of 45,202 younger adults in Norway has found that utilizing a display screen in mattress drives up your danger of insomnia by 59% and cuts your sleep time by 24 minutes. Nonetheless, social media was not discovered to be extra disruptive than different display screen actions.
“The type of screen activity does not appear to matter as much as the overall time spent using screens in bed,” stated Dr. Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Well being, lead creator of the article in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
“We found no significant differences between social media and other screen activities, suggesting that screen use itself is the key factor in sleep disruption—likely due to time displacement, where screen use delays sleep by taking up time that would otherwise be spent resting.”
Evening evening, sleep tight?
Sleep is vital to our psychological and bodily well being, however many people do not get sufficient. On the identical time, an rising variety of individuals are accustomed to utilizing screens in mattress, which can be related to poor sleep. Display use is assumed to impression sleep in 4 methods: notifications disturb sleep, display screen time replaces sleeping time, display screen actions preserve you wakeful so you are taking longer to go to sleep, or gentle publicity delays circadian rhythms.
“Sleep problems are highly prevalent among students and have significant implications for mental health, academic performance, and overall well-being, but previous studies have primarily focused on adolescents,” stated Hjetland.
“Given the widespread use of screens in bed, we aimed to explore the relationship between different screen activities and sleep patterns. We expected that social media use might be more strongly associated with poorer sleep, given its interactive nature and potential for emotional stimulation.”
To analyze, the scientists used the 2022 College students’ Well being and Nicely-being survey, a nationally consultant examine of Norwegian college students. They reached 45,202 contributors in full-time greater schooling, aged between 18–28 years outdated.
They first requested contributors to say whether or not they used screens after going to mattress and for a way lengthy. Then they requested contributors to determine their chosen actions: watching exhibits or films, gaming, social media, browsing the web, listening to audio like podcasts, or studying study-related supplies.
Members had been additionally requested to report their bedtime and rising time, in addition to how lengthy it took them to go to sleep, how typically that they had bother falling or staying asleep, how typically they felt sleepy in the course of the day, and the way lengthy their sleep issues continued. Insomnia was outlined as bother sleeping and daytime sleepiness points at the very least 3 times per week over at the very least three months.
The scientists then sorted responses into three classes: one the place contributors stated they solely used social media, one the place contributors didn’t point out social media, and one the place contributors chosen a number of actions, together with social media.
All-nighters
The scientists discovered that rising display screen time after bedtime by one hour elevated the percentages of insomnia signs by 59% and lowered sleep period by 24 minutes. Nonetheless, utilizing social media wasn’t extra detrimental than different display screen actions.
There was no important interplay between the time spent utilizing a display screen and the selection of exercise, suggesting that the exercise itself did not have an effect on the period of time individuals stayed awake.
This means that screens cut back sleep time as a result of they displace relaxation, not as a result of they improve wakefulness: completely different actions could be anticipated to have an effect on wakefulness otherwise.
“If you struggle with sleep and suspect that screen time may be a factor, try to reduce screen use in bed, ideally stopping at least 30–60 minutes before sleep,” urged Hjetland.
“If you do use screens, consider disabling notifications to minimize disruptions during the night.”
The scientists cautioned, nonetheless, that their examine focuses on a single tradition. There could possibly be notable variations within the relationship between display screen use and sleep globally. Moreover, to match social media use with different display screen actions, some actions which might have completely different results on sleep—equivalent to listening to music or gaming—had been included in a single class.
“This study cannot determine causality—for example, whether screen use causes insomnia or if students with insomnia use screens more,” famous Hjetland. “The study also did not include physiological assessments, which could provide more precise insights into sleep patterns.”
Extra info:
How and when screens are used: Evaluating completely different display screen actions and sleep in Norwegian college college students, Frontiers in Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273
Quotation:
One hour’s display screen use after going to mattress will increase your danger of insomnia by 59%, scientists discover (2025, March 31)
retrieved 31 March 2025
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