Social Media Use and Adolescents’ Sleep: A Longitudinal Study on the Protective Role of Parental Rules Regarding Internet Use before Sleep

Abstract

The popularity of social media use among adolescents has raised concerns about the potentially harmful effects of social media use on adolescents’ sleep. Since longitudinal research considering this relationship is scarce, the present two-wave longitudinal study of 2021 secondary school students (Mage = 13.86, SD = 1.25) examined whether frequency of social media use and problematic social media use predicted adolescents’ bedtime and quality of sleep. Moreover, the protective role of parental rules regarding Internet and smartphone use one hour before sleep was examined. The findings indicated that strict parental rules about Internet and smartphone use before sleep might prevent negative consequences of social media use on bedtime and sleep quality, but only among less engaged social media users. Once adolescents are highly engaged social media users, strict parental rules do not seem to prevent negative media influences on sleep. This implies that limiting Internet accessibility before bedtime can help prevent adolescents’ sleep problems, but that regulation is less effective for adolescents who are already highly involved in social media use.

Explaining variation in adolescents’ social media-related distraction: The role of social connectivity and disconnectivity factors

“…Such media-specific parenting may thus help adolescents to control their SMU and to prevent social media-related distraction. For instance, parents can set limits to the amount of adolescents’ screentime and restrict adolescents’ phone use at undesired moments, such as at bedtime, while doing homework, while having dinner, or while talking to someone (Shin & Li, 2016 ; van den Eijnden et al, 2021 ). However, parents differ in the extent to which they restrict adolescents’ phone use.…”

Predictors of Problematic Social Media Use in a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents in Luxembourg

“…The current scientific knowledge on the relationship between adolescent media use and well-being is complex, often yielding small effect sizes, conflicting findings and resulting in overall knowledge gaps [3][4][5][6]. Previous research has found positive effects of social media on adolescents, such as an increased level of self-esteem and access to online support networks [7,8], as well as negative effects such as an impaired sleep quality and mental health problems [9,10]. It is important to note that the directionality of these effects is still unclear, in particular for well-being.…”

The Impact of Nomophobia, Stress, and Loneliness on Smartphone Addiction among Young Adults during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Israeli Case Analysis

“…Lack of a sufficient number of sleep hours: The need for a sufficient number of sleep hours has already been shown to be of great importance to optimal health and wellbeing [35]. Not getting enough sleep hours may lead to changes in behavior [36] and is associated with attention problems, poor academic performance, daytime fatigue, depression, and obesity [37]. The literature includes many studies that explore the different aspects related to the quality of sleep hours and its connection to technology usage.…”