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Cited by 113Sleep and related disordersImpact of Technology on AdolescentsChild Development and Digital Technology

Altering Adolescents’ Pre-Bedtime Phone Use to Achieve Better Sleep Health

Bartel, K., Scheeren, R., Gradisar, M.·2019·Health Communication
DOI 10.1080/10410236.2017.1422099
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Abstract

Mobile phone use is often blamed for adolescent sleeping difficulties in the popular and scientific literature, with correlations observed between adolescents' mobile phone use and their bedtime. We aimed to obtain experimental evidence to support these causal claims. A within-subjects experiment (baseline, intervention) was conducted in adolescents' homes, to determine the effect of restricting adolescents' pre-bed mobile phone use on school night sleep habits. Following a baseline week, adolescents were given individualized phone stop times, 1 hour before bed for one school week. An online sleep diary was used to monitor bedtime, lights out time, sleep latency and total sleep. Sixty three adolescents (age range 14-18, M = 16.3, SD = 0.93yrs; 17%male) provided data. During one week of phone restriction, adolescents stopped using their phones earlier (80 min, p < .001), turned their lights off earlier (17 min, p = .01), and slept longer (21 min, p = .01). Participant recruitment was low (26%), indicating many adolescents lack motivation to negotiate changes to their evening phone use. Overall, there are potential benefits of restricted mobile phone use during the pre-sleep period, yet, future research is needed to identify non-technological interventions to increase adherence to phone restriction (e.g., motivational interviewing) or otherwise decrease pre-sleep arousal (e.g., cognitive strategies).

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  • Several observational studies using wearable image cameras to describe screen time did not investigate associations with sleep outcomes.

    “Furthermore, although several observational studies used wearable image cameras to describe screen time,25,26,39,40 they did not investigate associations with sleep outcomes.”

    From Screen Use at Bedtime and Sleep Duration and Quality Among Youths (2024) · cites this paper as [39]

  • Recent studies on general technology use have supported bidirectional links between higher technology use and shorter sleep in adolescents, and evidence that restricting phone access can advance bedtimes and extend sleep opportunity.

    “Recent studies on general technology use have supported bidirectional links between higher technology use and shorter sleep in adolescents,58 with evidence that restricting phone access can advance bedtimes and extend sleep opportunity.59”

    From Social media use and adolescent sleep patterns: cross-sectional findings from the UK millennium cohort study (2019) · cites this paper as [59]

  • Focusing exclusively on reducing nighttime social media activity (e.g. by limiting access) is challenging to implement and fails to address other relevant factors, such as underlying concerns and arousal, that persist independent of actual social media activity.

    “For clinicians, educators and parents of adolescents, this indicates that focusing exclusively on reducing nighttime social media activity (e.g. by limiting access) is not only challenging to implement [45,46], but also fails to address other relevant factors, such as underlying concerns and arousal, that persist independent of actual social media activity.”

    From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [45]

  • A causal pathway from social media use to sleep is supported by evidence that implementing changes to bedtime media habits can improve sleep outcomes.

    “A causal pathway from social media use to sleep is supported by evidence that implementing changes to bedtime media habits can improve sleep outcomes [45], highlighting the valuable contribution of experimental work.”

    From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [45]

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Authors
Bartel, K., Scheeren, R., & Gradisar, M.
Affiliations
  • Flinders University (AU)
  • Maastricht University (NL)
Corresponding author
Gradisar, M.
ORCID
Venue
Health Communication
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2018-01-09
Volume
34
Issue
4
Pages
456-462
ISSN
  • 1041-0236 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-7027
DOI
10.1080/10410236.2017.1422099
OpenAlex
W2782917101
Cited by
113
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 4
FWCI
15.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Health Communication (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
Keywords
mobile phone use, adolescent sleep, sleep health, bedtime, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep hygiene, pre-sleep arousal, sleep diary
MeSH terms
Sleep Hygiene, Sleep Latency, Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Female, Humans, Male, Sleep, Sleep Wake Disorders, Cell Phone

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