A new study from Norway has uncovered some significant nuances when it comes to pre-sleep screen time. One hour of screen exposure decreased sleep duration by an average of 24 minutes! The new research, published in BMC Public Health, found a shocking 59% higher risk of insomnia with late-night screen use. The outcomes are fascinating. Yet, experts caution against jumping to conclusions and stress the need for more research to better understand the effects, particularly about how social media use may be influencing sleep patterns.
The participatory study found that changing blue light exposure to yellow or amber light improved the quality of sleep among 16 participants. Researchers found that late-night screen time may disrupt natural sleep cycles, raising concerns about how this behavior impacts overall health. Kaylor, who is well-known in the sleep research community, welcomed the findings with enthusiasm. He added that the evidence needs to be much stronger.
“I find the results interesting but not strong, and more research needs to be done to truly support the claim that social media use in bed before sleep is protective. That claim is quite a stretch.” – Kaylor
The Role of Blue Light in Sleep Disruption
Kaylor’s worries mainly focus on blue light, a short wavelength spectrum produced by most digital devices. This artificial light can interfere with the brain’s natural cycles. Humans have adapted, in part, to use sunlight as an external cue for regulating their circadian rhythms.
“Since we still have the same circuitry, we can easily confuse the brain by being in the presence of light close to bedtime.” – Kaylor
To counteract these effects, most mobile phone manufacturers have rolled out blue-light filtering tools intended for use in the evenings. These features may be called Night Light, Blue Light Filter or Eye Comfort Shield on your Android device. On Apple devices, they’ve branded it as Night Shift. These features are specifically intended to reduce blue light exposure during evening hours and help limit harmful impacts on sleep.
Even with these improvements, Kaylor is doubtful they’ll make a difference. He underscores the need to emphasize that most users will breathe a sigh of relief. The root problem of disrupted sleep due to excessive screen time still exists.
The Complex Relationship Between Social Media and Sleep
The researchers conclude that using social media while in bed may not be as beneficial to sleep as once assumed. Sivertsen, one of the authors of the new study, has a particularly striking figure. Not surprisingly, Ben explained, when people convene socially on the internet at night, they develop a delayed sleep phase. This new trend has the potential to make any already messed-up sleep even worse, by making bedtime go even later!
“Adolescents tend to be more socially and emotionally reactive, making social interactions more stimulating and harder to disengage from before sleep,” – Sivertsen
Perhaps most vividly, Sivertsen described sort of an epiphany he had. Those who engaged in social media without the other screen activities had less insomnia symptoms and shorter sleep onset latencies than those who combined screen activities. This major finding leaves us with many questions, such as what makes interactions on social media different than all other screen time.
Indeed, scholars are still working to understand this intricate connection. Kaylor argues that we have to look closer at the ways in which social media affects sleep. He stresses that the new results shouldn’t be used to draw firm conclusions about how screen time affects sleep quality.
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