Adolescents sleep less and less because of their excessive use of smartphones, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Sleep Medicine.
Researchers at San Diego State University and Iowa State University in the United States conducted a large-scale study with 360,000 American adolescents, aged 13 to 18
Combining and analyzing data from two surveys, the researchers found that in 2015, around 40% of adolescents slept less than 7 hours per night, 58% more than in 1991 and 17% more than 2009.
Digging deeper into the data, the researchers learned that the more time young people reported spending time online, the less sleep they got. Teens who spent 5 hours a day online were 50% more likely not to get enough sleep than their peers who were only online for an hour a day on a screen.
The smartphone involved in teenage sleep deprivation
From 2009, the use of smartphones exploded, and is believed to be responsible for the 17% growth rate between 2009 and 2015 in the number of students sleeping 7 hours or less. According to the authors, teens could not only use their phones at night, and previous research suggests that the wavelengths of light emitted by smartphones and tablets can interfere with the natural rhythm of sleep.
“Teenagers’ sleep started to decline just when the majority of them started using smartphones,” said Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University: “In view of the importance of sleep to physical and mental health, teens and adults should consider whether their phone use interferes with their sleep. It is particularly important not to use the screens just before going to bed, as they can interfere with falling asleep. “
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