Why is this important?
Among adolescents, the use of screens is accused of many evils and in particular of stimulating awakening and contributing to a restriction of sleep time. But for their part, adolescents consider that screens contribute to reducing their sleep time, but that they are also a help in getting to sleep. For now, only an effect on the sleep onset time shift has been proven. However, some elements of the literature have highlighted a bidirectionality of the phenomenon, arguing that sleep difficulties such as ruminations that interfere with falling asleep, would encourage more screen consumption. In order to better understand the relationship between sleep and screen consumption at bedtime, a study questioned the possible use of digital devices in order to escape negative thoughts.
Methodology
This cross-sectional design study included 684 adolescents (average age 15 years, 46% girls). The participants had to answer questions regarding their sleep: perception of difficulties with their sleep, time and delay in falling asleep, technologies used to dispel negative thoughts. Participants were asked if they used screens to dismiss negative thoughts before sleeping (primary endpoint) and which devices and apps they preferred. The rate of sleep disturbance in screen users before bedtime was compared to that of non-users (secondary endpoint).
Principle results
A large majority of teenagers (62%) answered “yes” (23.6%) or “sometimes” (38.4%) to the question “do you use digital devices to distract you from your negative thoughts? “.
Those who answered “yes” to this question had more frequent sleep difficulties compared to those who answered “no” (36.8% vs 18.3%). And conversely, the proportion of those who answered “no” was higher among those who had not reported sleep difficulties compared to those who had (44% vs 23%).
The time of falling asleep was significantly later in those who regularly used screens to drive away their negative thoughts at bedtime (+50 minutes) or in those who used them “sometimes” (+32 min), compared to those who did not use it. Sleep delays were also longer in screen users for negative thoughts compared to non-users (+17 min on average).
The most used digital devices were the mobile phone because of its ease of access and the possibility of contacting friends. The most popular apps were You Tube for entertainment and relaxation, Snapchat for contacting friends, and music apps (Spotify, iTunes, Apple music) for fun and relaxation.
