A recent nationwide study provides information on screen usage patterns associated with improved sleep, which was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The US Surgeon General proposed a warning label for social media sites due to concerns about its impact on the mental health of young people. Potential connections between youth social media use and poor sleep quality were noted by the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
What specific steps can parents and teenagers take to improve sleep in light of these issues? A recent nationwide study provides information on screen usage patterns associated with improved sleep, which was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
As an associate professor of paediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco and primary author Jason Nagata, MD, says getting adequate sleep is essential for adolescents’ physical and mental development. According to the research, not sleeping with notifications on—even in silent mode—is preferable to having the phone turned off entirely or kept out of the bedroom.
In depth
The largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, includes 9,398 preteens ages 11–12. The researchers examined data from this study. Data were gathered between 2018 and 2021.
The youth were questioned about their usage of screens and social media at bedtime, and the teenagers and their parents were queried about their sleeping patterns. 25% of preteens experienced sleep disturbances. 16.2% of respondents said that at least once in the previous week, they had been awakened from sleep by calls, texts, or emails. Also, 19.3% of respondents said they would use their phone or another gadget if they woke up during the night.
According to Nagata, teenagers are frequently acutely aware of phone notifications and frequently wake up the moment they hear them.
Teenagers may check their phones throughout the night, even if they are on vibrate or quiet. They may become more aware and engaged once they begin reading or replying to communications. The social demands and physical, psychological, and emotional changes that accompany adolescent development make it a difficult period for many people, according to co-author Kyle T. Ganson, PhD. It’s critical to comprehend this process and to be there to encourage young people as they utilise social media.
Take away
Some tips to keep in mind:
Don’t use screens in the bedroom:The length of sleep was shown to be shorter in bedrooms with TVs or other internet-connected devices.
Switch off your phone: Comparing turning off the phone completely with leaving the ringer on or setting notifications to vibrate or quiet was shown to result in less sleep. Comparing turning off the phone ringer to leaving it on was linked to a 25% increased chance of sleep disturbance. 16.2% of teenagers said that in the previous week, they had tried to fall asleep but were awakened by a call, text, or email.
Avoid using electronic gadgets or social media right before bed: Less sleep has been linked to social media use, online conversation, video game playing, internet browsing, and watching or streaming films, TV shows or films in bed before bed.
Avoid using your phone or using social media if you wake up in the middle of the night: In the previous week, one-fifth of teenagers said they had woken up during the night and utilised their phone or another device. Less sleep over night was linked to this.
