A new study links the use of the screen in bed – especially scrolling social media and flow – at higher insomnia rates among students.
Study: How and when used screens: comparing different screen activities and sleep to Norwegian students at the University. Credit Picture: Dimaberlin / Shutterstock.com
In recent study published in Borders in psychiatry; researchers Explore whether online exposure to bed screen, especially the use of social media, affects sleep compared to other screen -based activities.
Why do students sleep less?
Proper sleep is essential for maintaining both mental and physical health. In fact, bad sleep negatively affects memory, attention range and other aspects of cognitive function, which can then affect academic performance.
Usually, students in higher education sleep less than the recommended seven to nine hours. For example, a recent study emphasized that 30% of Norwegian students sleep six to seven hours or less each night, with females more likely to develop insomnia. Between 2010 and 2018, the incidence of insomnia among Norwegian students has increased significantly.
Previous studies have reported that the use of digital media, including play, television monitoring and the use of social media, affects quality and duration of sleep. These studies have also shown that the rise in screen time in recent decades may have contributed further to short sleep times.
To date, most studies that analyze the impact of digital sleep media have focused mainly on its impact on children and adolescents, whose delayed sleep and increased delay in sleeping.
The advent of smartphones has greatly increased the use of the screen before bed or in bed, especially among students. The use of the bed screen adversely affects sleep due to exposure to light from the screen that suppresses melatonin secretion and delays circadian rhythm, as well as alerts from devices that interrupt sleep after appearance.
The use of social media also contributes to delaying sleeping time and sleep displacement. However, it remains unclear whether the use of social media causes sleep disorders to a greater extent compared to other screen activities.
For the study
The current study estimates that the time students spend using bed screens and its connection to sleep disorders. Data from Studentes Helse-OG TRIVSELSUNDERSøkelse (SHOT2022) research, which is a national cross-sectional study that included all students who participated in Higher Education in Norway, for this analysis. All relevant elements of full -time students between 18 and 28 years were collected between February and April 2022.
Different forms of electronic media were recorded, including watching films and television series, social media control, internet tour, music listening, podcasts or audio books and reading content related to the study.
Based on these answers, the study participants were divided into three groups, including “control of social media”, “social media + other” and “non -social media”. The average time spent on bed screen -based activities was appreciated.
The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, the fifth version criteria (DSM-5) for insomnia were used to evaluate the symptoms of insomnia and sleep duration. Time in bed (Tib), sleep delay (SOL) and wake up after sleeping (WASO) were evaluated with specific questions.
Modeling of multiple logic regression was used to understand the effects of different forms of screening time on bed in sleep between students.
Screen time in bed associated with a higher risk of insomnia
About 35.1% of students who participated in higher education in Norway completed the internet -based questionnaires. Compared to men, women’s study participants were younger, more likely to use bed screens, experience symptoms of insomnia and report longer sleeping.
Over 31% of participants in the study that did not use bed screens reported symptoms of insomnia, including their average sleep duration 7.56 hours. In comparison, 34.4% of screen users reported insomnia with a 7.57 -hour sleep duration.
The regression models adapted to age and sex revealed that those who did not use bed screens were 24% less likely to report insomnia. However, there was no difference during sleep between screen users and non -display users.
About 69% of young adults who used screens in bed used social media along with other screen -based activities, especially browsing the internet and watching movies. Interestingly, the correlation between screen and insomnia was similar between the groups. About 15% of participants used only social media, while another 15% of the study group avoided social media.
The analysis suggests that an additional one hour of screen after going to bed was associated with a 59% increased risk of symptoms of insomnia in students and a 24 -minute reduction in sleep.
Participants in the study who used only social media were less likely to report symptoms of insomnia, while also sleeping for the longer duration. On the contrary, those who dealt with social media, along with other screen -based activities, presented the highest proportions that reported a short duration of sleep and symptoms of insomnia.
Conclusions
The findings of the study show that the screen time in the bed was associated with an increased risk of developing insomnia symptoms, regardless of screen activity. Future studies are needed to clarify mechanisms that may contribute to the negative relationship between the use of bed screen and sleep disorders.
Magazine report:
- Hjetland, GJ, Skogen, JC, Hysing, M., et al. (2025) How and when used screens: comparing different screen activities and sleep to the Norwegian students of the University. Borders in psychiatry 16. DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273
