Using social media affects your sleep
The source for this claim is the METRO newspaper.
Image description: A chart. On the left hand side going down, the types of evidence (types one through to five) are listed. Each has a face showing emotion depending on how reliable the evidence is, and is coloured like traffic lights to reflect whether you can rely on it. Type 1: Red. sad/horrified. Type 2: Amber. unhappy. Type 3: Light green. Happy. Type 4: Mid green. Not sure. Type 5: Dark green. Overjoyed!
Image description: A headline from Huffpost reads: Tweeting, not sleeping? What is your Social Media / Sleep balance?
The text underneath reads: "The Sleep Doctor Guide for Social Media/Sleep Balance:
• Charge your mobile devices out of the bedroom (this way you can’t hear it buzz in the middle of the night).
• Stop social media use at least an hour before bedtime (this can be a tough one, try 30 minutes at first, then make it a little longer).
• Replace this time with light reading (not on an electronic device), simple stretches, meditation or deep breathing.
• Don’t check Social Media in the middle of the night when you may wake to use the restroom or just get more comfortable.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com
For updates follow me @thesleepdoctor
Image description: A headline from peer-reviewed medical journal Acta Paediatrica reads: Use of social media is associated with short sleep duration in a dose-response manner in students aged 11 to 20 years.
The text reads:
"AIM This study examined the association between social media and sleep duration among Canadian students aged 11–20.
METHODS Data from 5242 students were obtained from the 2015 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, a province‐wide, school‐based survey that has been conducted every two years since 1977. We measured the respondents’ sleep duration against the recommended ranges of 9–11 h per night at 11–13 years of age, 8–10 h at 14–17 and 7–9 h per night for those aged 18 years or more.
RESULTS Overall, 36.4% of students met or exceeded the recommended sleep duration and 63.6% slept less than recommended, with 73.4% of students reporting that they used social media for at least one hour per day. After adjusting for various covariates, the use of social media was associated with greater odds of short sleep duration in a dose–response manner (p for linear trend <0.001). Odds ratios ranged from 1.82 for social media use of at least one hour per day to 2.98 for at least five hours per day.
CONCLUSION Greater use of social media was associated with shorter sleep duration in a dose–response fashion among Canadian students aged 11–20.
Image description: A headline from SAGE Journals reads: Investigating the effects of social media usage on sleep quality.
The text underneath reads:
"Social media usage is widespread among young adults. A user study was conducted to investigate whether usage of social media before bed time would result in sleep disturbance and diminished sleep quality.
Ten participants were asked to not use social media before bed (baseline) for one week and use several popular applications for three weeks.
While the effects were not statistically significant, social media usage before sleep might still negatively affect sleep quality."
Image description:
A headline from the Metro reads: "Just one hour of social media a day can ruin your sleep"
A headline from Mail Online reads: "Just one hour of social media a day is enough to ruin your sleeping pattern, study warns"
A headline from the Evening Standard reads: "Using social media for just one hour a day is enough to disrupt your sleeping pattern, new study suggests"
Image description: A headline from JAMA Network (an open access medical journal from the American Medical Association) reads: Association between Portable Screen-Based Media Device Use and Sleep Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
The text underneath reads:
"OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether there is an association between portable screen-based media device (eg,cell phones and tablet devices) access or use in the sleep environment and sleep outcomes.
DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Of 467 studies identified, 20 cross-sectional studies were assessed for methodological quality. These studies involved 125,198 children. Two reviewers independently extracted data.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE To date, this study is the first systematic review and meta analysis of the association of access to and the use of media devices with sleep outcomes. Bedtime access to and use of a media device were significantly associated with the following: inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality, and excessive daytime sleepiness. An integrated approach among teachers, health care professionals, and parents is required to minimize device access at bedtime, and future research is needed to evaluate the influence of the devices on sleep hygiene and outcomes."
