Adolescents' technology and face-to-face time use predict objective sleep outcomes

Abstract

Objectives The present study examined both within- and between-person associations between adolescents’ time use (technology-based activities and face-to-face interactions with friends and family) and sleep behaviors. We also assessed whether age moderated associations between adolescents’ time use with friends and family and sleep. Design Adolescents wore an actigraph monitor and completed brief evening surveys daily for 3 consecutive days. Participants Adolescents (N = 71; Mean age = 14.50 years old, SD = 1.84; 43.7% female) were recruited from 3 public high schools in the Midwest. Measures We assessed 8 technology-based activities (e.g., texting, working on computer), as well as time spent engaged in face-to-face interactions with friends and family via questions on adolescents’ evening surveys. Actigraph monitors assessed three sleep behaviors: sleep latency, sleep hours, and sleep efficiency. Results Hierarchical linear models indicated that texting and working on the computer were associated with shorter sleep, whereas time spent talking on the phone predicted longer sleep. Time spent with friends predicted shorter sleep latencies, while family time predicted longer sleep latencies. Age moderated the association between time spent with friends and sleep efficiency, as well as between family time and sleep efficiency. Specifically, longer time spent interacting with friends was associated with higher sleep efficiency but only among younger adolescents. Furthermore, longer family time was associated with higher sleep efficiency but only for older adolescents. Conclusion Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of regulating adolescents’ technology use and improving opportunities for face-to-face interactions with friends, particularly for younger adolescents.

Electronic Media Use and Sleep in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…Brunetti et al (2016), for example, found that computer use doubled the odds of a short night's sleep, while talking on a mobile phone tripled the odds of a short night's sleep 22 . In contrast, Tavernier et al (2017) found that talking on the phone increased the sleep duration, whereas texting reduced the sleep duration. In this study, social media use (e.g.…”

“…Of the included studies, 18 were conducted in North America [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] , 23 in Europe , ve in Australia and New Zealand [52][53][54][55][56] , and three studies combined several western countries [57][58][59] . There were three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) 27,28,50 , two quasiexperimental studies 26,51 , 15 prospective cohort studies 12,16,19,24,30,32,35,37,40,42,45,47,48,52,55 , and 29 cross-sectional studies 11, 13-15, 17, 18, 20-23, 25, 29, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 53, 54, 56-59 . Detailed descriptions of study design and results are available in Supplementary eTables 2-4.…”

“…Two studies examined mobile phone use and daytime tiredness 35,53 . Redmayne et al (2013) found that children disturbed by their mobile phone at night at least once a week were 3.5 times more likely to experience daytime tiredness than children who were not disturbed by their mobile phone at night 53 Eleven studies investigated the relationship between electronic media use and delayed bedtime and sleep onset 23,24,40,43,45,46,[48][49][50][51]59 . Nine of these studies showed a positive association 23,40,43,45,46,48,49,51,59 .…”

“…Mazzer et al (2018), who examined eighth-and ninth-grade students over a year, found that of electronic media use was associated with short sleep duration 42 . Regarding different types of electronic media, it appears that computers 22,24,38,58 , mobile phones 22,24,38 , and video games 22,38 affected sleep duration. Brunetti et al (2016), for example, found that computer use doubled the odds of a short night's sleep, while talking on a mobile phone tripled the odds of a short night's sleep 22 .…”

The Use of Small Electronic Devices and Health: Feasibility of Interventions for a Forthcoming Crossover Design

“…The effect of bedtime technology use has mainly been investigated with self-reported outcome measures and may thereby be prone to misclassification, recall difficulty, recall bias, and response-style bias [ 14 ]. Only a few studies have applied objective sleep measures based on actigraphy and examined the association between sleep and self-reported media use [ 33 , 34 ]. These studies report that self-reported bedtime technology use is negatively related to objective sleep measures in adolescents.…”