- For teenagers, interactive screen time delays and shortens sleep duration more than passive screen time.
- Children who played video games longer than they usually did during the day slept 10 minutes later on average.
- The teenagers slept an average of 7.8 hours every night overall.
According to recent research, especially for teenagers, interactive screen time—such as messaging friends or playing video games—delays and shortens sleep duration more than passive screen time. This finding was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
According to the study, teenagers at the age of fifteen who used screens for social media or video games an hour before bedtime need thirty minutes more to fall asleep than those who did not engage in interactive screen time.
Video Games
Children who played video games longer than they usually did during the day slept 10 minutes later on average. A child’s loss of 15 minutes of sleep at night is substantial, particularly if they have to wake up early for school; they will not be able to make up for it if they sleep later than normal.
Children who do not get enough sleep are more likely to become obese and have problems with their mental, emotional, and cognitive functioning. Using daily surveys for three or more days, the researchers evaluated 475 adolescents’ screen-related behaviors during the day.
They discovered that the teenagers talked to their pals for two hours a day on average through social media, texting on the phone, instant messaging, and email. They watched television or videos for roughly 1.7 hours a day, played video games for about 1.3 hours, and browsed the internet for less than an hour.
These are slightly lower daily time estimates. The youngsters watched television or watched movies 69% of the time in the hour before bed, and 77% of the time they used a phone, computer, or tablet for communication or to play video games.
The teenagers slept an average of 7.8 hours every night overall. On average, individuals fell asleep approximately 11 minutes after using screens to connect with friends for an hour during the day. They slept for roughly nine minutes after using screens for an hour to play video games.
The people who used their devices to text, converse, or play games within an hour before bedtime lost the most sleep, with their sleep starting around thirty minutes later.
