A recent study conducted in Norway revealed that individuals who spend time in front of a screen before going to bed are at a higher risk of experiencing insomnia and sleep deprivation. The research, which involved over 45,200 students aged 18-28, examined the connection between screen time before sleep and sleep patterns.
Participants were asked to identify the activities they engaged in on screens after getting into bed, including watching movies, using social media, browsing the internet and playing games. The study aimed to investigate how these screen-related activities influenced sleep quality.
The research concluded that people who spent time looking at screens before sleeping were more likely to suffer from insomnia and sleep deprivation. Specifically, for each additional hour spent using a screen in bed, the risk of insomnia increased by 59%, and participants slept, on average, 24 minutes less.
Dr. Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland, a leading researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, conducted this study, which was published yesterday in the international scientific journal Frontiers.
Joshua Piper, a sleep clinician from ResMed U.K., discussed the study's findings with the BBC, emphasizing that the research provides valuable, growing evidence that electronic device usage negatively impacts sleep. He stated: "It steals both the opportunity for sleep and the quality of sleep. As a result, some people struggle to fall asleep, while others have difficulty staying asleep."
