Teenagers on social media face problems with sleep

TEENAGERS WHO use social media for three hours or more per day have problems falling asleep and then struggle to get up for school the next morning, experts say.

Their new study found that using sites such as Facebook and Twitter also led to frequent wakings and problems getting back to sleep. Published in BMJ Open, the research involved 1,872 teenagers aged 13 to 15 who were asked about the times they went to sleep, whether they had trouble falling back asleep after waking in the night and what time they got up the next morning. They were asked how many hours per day they spent on social networking or messaging sites or apps such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Just over a third of the group were low users of social media (less than one hour per day), while 31.6 per cent were average users (one to three hours a day), 13.9 per cent were high users (three to five hours a day) and 20.8 per cent were very high users (more than five hours a day).

The study found heavy social media users were 23 per cent more likely to fall asleep late on school nights compared to average users, while very heavy users were more than twice as likely to fall asleep late. Heavy users were also 56 per cent more likely to sleep in on school days when they needed to be up, while very heavy users were 97 per cent more likely. Very heavy users were 36 per cent more likely to wake up throughout the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, while heavy users were eight per cent more likely.

A similar pattern occurred on free days such as weekends and holidays, with heavy and very heavy users more likely to stay up late and sleep in. Low social media users were the least likely to fall asleep late – suggesting minimal social media use produces “optimal outcomes for sleep”, the researchers said. They added: “These findings are consistent with the idea that social media displaces sleep: either directly or indirectly.”

The research found that while girls reported more social media use, boys were more likely to fall asleep late on free days.