Identifying drivers for bedtime social media use despite sleep costs: the adolescent perspective
Open accessAbstract
Bedtime social media use is associated with poor sleep during adolescence, which in turn contributes to poor mental health, impaired daytime functioning and lower academic achievement. However, the underlying drivers for these bedtime social media habits remain understudied. Adolescents aged 11-17 years (n=24) participated in focus group discussions exploring their experiences of using social media, particularly at night. Inductive thematic analysis identified common themes relating to underlying drivers for social media use and associated impact on sleep. Our analyses identified two overarching themes: Missing Out and Norms & Expectations. Adolescents’ nighttime social media use was driven by concerns over negative consequences for real-world relationships if they disconnected (often reporting delayed bedtimes, insufficient sleep and daytime tiredness). These concerns included the risk of offline peer exclusion from missing out on online interactions, and the fear of social disapproval from violating norms around online availability and prompt responses. These findings offer novel insight into why adolescents may choose to prioritise social media over sleep. Educators, practitioners and policymakers can respond to the evolving needs of today’s adolescents by approaching social media use not as a technology-based activity, but as an embedded social experience underpinned by the same concerns as offline interactions.
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More studies in the sleep literature over the last 5 years have examined not only the time participants spend using social media, but also their experiences of and motivations for these interactions.
“This has been one area of development in the sleep literature over the last 5 years, with more studies examining not only the time that participants spend using social media, but also their experiences of-and motivations for-these interactions [8,12,17,38].”
From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
A strong connection to social media platforms can stem from a more pervasive anxiety about potentially missing out.
“This reinforces the need to consider social media use within the broader context of an individual's online and offline social interactions, as a strong connection to social media platforms can stem from a more pervasive anxiety about potentially missing out [8,44].”
From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
Individuals who are concerned about possibly missing out may struggle at bedtime to stop not only using social media, but also thinking about possible social media interactions.
“Therefore, individuals who are concerned about possibly missing out may struggle at bedtime to stop not only using social media, but also thinking about possible social media interactions [8].”
From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Scott, H., Biello, S., & Woods, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Scott, Holly
- Venue
- Sleep Health
- Publisher
- Center for Open Science
- Published
- 2018-10-12
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 539-545
- ISSN
- 2352-7218 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2972980221
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 19.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Sleep Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Glasgow
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/J500136, ES/J500136/1, J500136)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Keywords
- adolescents, sleep deprivation, motivations for social media use, peer exclusion, social norms, online availability, offline relationships, sleep quality, adolescent mental health
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Motivation, Sleep, Time Factors, Focus Groups, Social Media
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