Evening and night exposure to screens of media devices and its association with subjectively perceived sleep: Should “light hygiene” be given more attention?

Šmotek, Michal; Fárková, Eva; Manková, Denisa; Kopřivová, Jana

doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2019.11.007

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…This contradiction is not surprising. Although concerns about mental health stressfulness of media are debatable, either due to cultural differences [ 25 ], wide misconceptions about the definition of stress [ 18 ], or individual reasons for use [ 6 , 14 - 16 , 36 ], deleterious physical health effects of excessive screen time are quantifiable [ 4 , 5 , 41 , 42 ]. One out of four respondents were very worried about the physical health risks of increased screen time, but only 1 out of 7 were concerned about the mental health risks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a growing concern about the potential adverse effects of excessive screen time on emotional and physical health. To name a few harms, there is stress caused by an abundance of catastrophic news [ 2 ]; increased sedentary behavior and obesity [ 3 , 4 ]; sleep disorders [ 5 ]; and addiction to social media [ 6 ], computer games [ 7 ], online gambling [ 8 ], etc. Nevertheless, the debate about the directional relationship between stress and compulsive screen use is nuanced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What Media Helps, What Media Hurts: A Mixed Methods Survey Study of Coping with COVID-19 Using the Media Repertoire Framework and the Appraisal Theory of Stress

Pahayahay¹,

Khalili-Mahani²

2020

J Med Internet Res

103

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Background Social and physical distancing in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has made screen-mediated information and communication technologies (media) indispensable. Whether an increase in screen use is a source of or a relief for stress remains to be seen. Objective In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns, we investigated the relation between subjective stress and changes in the pattern of media use. Based on Lazarus’s transactional model of appraisal and coping, and building on an earlier similar survey, we hypothesize that individual differences in the appraisal of media predict variations in approach or avoidance of media for coping with COVID-19 stress. Methods Between March 20 and April 20, 2020, a brief snowball survey entitled: “What media helps, what media hurts: coping with COVID19 through screens” was distributed via Concordia University’s mailing lists and social media (PERFORM Centre, EngAGE Centre, and Media Health Lab). Using a media repertoire method, we asked questions about preferences, changes in use, and personal appraisal of media experiences (approach, avoid, and ignore) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated interindividual differences in media use by factors such as subjective stress, age, gender, and self-reported mental health. Results More than 90% of the survey respondents were in Canada and the east coast of the United States. From 685 completed responses, 169 respondents were “very stressed” and 452 were “slightly worried” about the pandemic. COVID-19 stress led to increased use of Facebook (χ23=11.76, P=.008), television (χ23=12.40, P=.006), YouTube (χ23=8.577, P=.04), and streaming services such as Netflix (χ23=10.71, P=.01). Respondents who considered their mental health “not good” were twice as likely to prefer streaming services as a coping tool for self-isolation. Women and nonbinary respondents were twice as likely than men to pick social media for coping. Individuals younger than 35 years were 3 times more likely to pick computer games, and individuals older than 55 years were more likely to pick network television or print media. Gender affected the appraisal of media (less in men than others) in terms of avoid (F1,637=5.84, P=.02) and approach scores (F1,637=14.31, P<.001). Subjective mental health affected the ignore score (less in those who said “good” than others; F1,637=13.88, P<.001). The appraisal score and use increase explained variations in worrying about physical and mental health stress due to increased screen time. A qualitative analysis of open-ended questions revealed that media (especially social networks) were important for coping if they provided support and connection through the dissemination of factual and positive information while avoiding the overflow of sensational and false news. Conclusions The relationship between appraisal of media’s positive and negative facets vary with demographic differences in mental health resiliency. The media repertoire approach is an important tool in studies that focus on assessing the benefits and harms of screen overuse in different populations, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Media Helps, What Media Hurts: A Mixed Methods Survey Study of Coping with COVID-19 Using the Media Repertoire Framework and the Appraisal Theory of Stress

Pahayahay¹,

Khalili-Mahani²

2020

J Med Internet Res

103

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“…Epidemiological and cross-sectional studies indeed showed a strong relationship between the electronic device usage after the sundown and alterations of sleep patterns. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] The impact of screen exposure before falling asleep on the melatonin secretion was confirmed by several studies that experimentally manipulated the evening exposure to tablet, 28 eReader, 29 and computer screens. 19,30 These investigations also reported decreased objective and self-reported sleepiness, higher sleep onset latency, and altered sleep architecture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…The pattern of results of our longitudinal investigation is consistent with a large pre-outbreak cross-sectional literature addressing the relationship between sleep and evening electronic device usage. In particular, higher screen time has been associated with reduced sleep duration, 20,[44][45][46] prolongation of sleep onset latency, [21][22][23][24]46 later sleep onset and waking up, 20,21,45 poor sleep quality, [20][21][22][23][24] and insomnia symptoms. 21,26,44 The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all the world, and the home confinement constitutes the most widely used measure to contrast the spread of the contagion.…”

Section: Relationships Between Screen Exposure and Sleep Disturbance mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes of evening exposure to electronic devices during the COVID-19 lockdown affect the time course of sleep disturbances

Salfi

Amicucci

Corigliano

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Study Objectives: During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a worldwide increase in electronic devices' daily usage. The exposure to backlit screens before falling asleep leads to negative consequences on sleep health through its influence on the circadian system. We investigated the relationship between the changes in evening screen exposure and the time course of sleep disturbances during the home confinement period due to COVID-19. Methods: 2123 Italians were longitudinally tested during the third and the seventh week of lockdown. The web-based survey evaluated sleep quality and insomnia symptoms through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index. During the second assessment, respondents reported the changes in the backlit screen exposure in the two hours before falling asleep. Results: Participants who increased electronic device usage showed decreased sleep quality, exacerbated insomnia symptoms, reduced sleep duration, higher sleep onset latency, and delayed bedtime and rising time. In this subgroup, the prevalence of poor sleepers and clinical insomniacs increased. Conversely, respondents reporting decreased screen exposure exhibited improved sleep quality and insomnia symptoms. In this subgroup, the prevalence of poor sleepers and clinical insomniacs decreased. Respondents preserving their screen time habits did not show any change in the sleep parameters. Conclusions: Our investigation demonstrated a strong relationship between the modifications of the evening electronic device usage and the time course of sleep disturbances during the lockdown period. Interventions to raise public awareness about the risks of excessive exposure to backlit screens are necessary to prevent sleep disturbances and foster well-being during the home confinement due to COVID-19.

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“…First, data on media use before bedtime was collected via a sleep log. Based on this method, information about media use measured objectively [6], the type of media, the place of media use (in bed vs. outside) and the effect of blue light [10,17] is missing. Secondly, this study focused on patients already suffering from impaired sleep quality and insomnia.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does media use before bedtime affect the sleep of psychosomatic rehabilitation patients?

et al. 2020

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Objective Media use can affect sleep. However, research regarding various populations is sparse. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between media use directly before bedtime and various sleep parameters in patients of a psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic. Methods Patients from a German psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic were tested regarding subjective sleep quality and insomnia symptoms based on questionnaires such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Eligible patients also completed an additional sleep log over a period of 1 week. A total of 347 insomnia patients were enrolled, with a mean age of 49.77 years (range 22–64 years; median = 52 years). 57.5% of the patients were 50 years or older. Results Analysis showed that media use and various sleep diary parameters such as total sleep time (r = −0.386, p = 0.042; rTST2 = 0.149) and sleep efficiency (r = −0.507, p = 0.006; rSE2 = 0.257) were significantly associated. In detail, more media consumption was associated with less total sleep time and a lower sleep efficiency. The same result was found for media use and sleep efficiency on weekdays (r = −0.544, p = 0.002; rSE2 = 0.296), but not for other sleep parameters. However, media use time and subjective sleep quality were not significantly correlated, r = −0.055, p = 0.768. Conclusion This study, which is the first to examine the relation between media use and sleep in patients of a psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic, suggests a significant association between media use and sleep duration as well as sleep efficiency. However, more research is needed to investigate the relationship between media use and sleep in more detail, to increase patients’ quality of life and to incorporate these findings into the daily life of clinicians and therapists as well as into sleep hygiene education and sleep trainings.

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Evening and night exposure to screens of media devices and its association with subjectively perceived sleep: Should “light hygiene” be given more attention?

Cited by 31 publications

References 74 publications

What Media Helps, What Media Hurts: A Mixed Methods Survey Study of Coping with COVID-19 Using the Media Repertoire Framework and the Appraisal Theory of Stress

What Media Helps, What Media Hurts: A Mixed Methods Survey Study of Coping with COVID-19 Using the Media Repertoire Framework and the Appraisal Theory of Stress

Changes of evening exposure to electronic devices during the COVID-19 lockdown affect the time course of sleep disturbances

Does media use before bedtime affect the sleep of psychosomatic rehabilitation patients?

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