More Smartphone Screen Time Linked To Lower Sleep Quality

The study took 30 days in which the adults were monitored and the app recorded their smartphone screen time.

A new study found that the more smartphone screen time the lower sleep quality. This study comes after a previous study demonstrated the same thing but it was made on children. Now adults are the ones that are involved in the study. Despite the fact that adults know how to manage their smartphone screen time, they still had bad results when it comes to sleep quality.

On this study, 653 adults were involved and researchers analyzed their data. These adults were already enrolled in a Health eHeart Study. In order to monitor their smartphone screen time, researchers installed an app on their phones that recorded their screen time. They wanted to see how many minutes per hour people spent on their phones.

The study took 30 days in which the adults were monitored and the app recorded their smartphone screen time.  Some of them reported their usual bedtime and how much they sleep. They also provided some medical information that was relevant for the study.

The average smartphone screen time was 39 hours in those 30 days. The average screen time for one hour was 4 minutes. This means that these people spent an hour and a half on their phones every day.

The findings showed that younger people spent more time on their mobile devices than older ones. It also showed that the smartphone screen time could be different based on race and age and that is was almost the same for people who had a similar socioeconomic background.

Just like previous studies, the results showed that people who spent more time on their phones have a lower sleep quality. The researchers observed that people who use their mobile device more tend to fall asleep really hard and sleep less.

Until now this type of study was made by the results provided by the people involved in the study, without researchers monitoring them. In previous studies, the participants reported just how much time they spent on their devices and their sleep quality. This study could provide better information because researchers were the ones that monitored everything.

Specialists mentioned that people who have trouble sleeping should avoid smartphone screen time at least before bed if they can’t avoid it all day. Less screen time means more sleep time. It also means a better sleep.

Image source: Pixabay