Effects of Screen Use at Bedtime Psychology Assignment

Effects of Screen Use at Bedtime
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Effects of Screen Use at Bedtime
Sleep is an essential element of human life that takes up a third of the lifetime. Sufficient duration and quality of sleep are vital for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and enhances physical and mental development in children and adolescents. However, due to lifestyle changes coupled with technological advancements, sleep deficits are prevalent among adolescents; with over 90% not getting the recommended sleep duration of 9 hours. Access and use of screen-based media devices is a significant contributor to detrimental sleep hygiene in this age group. Research suggests that using screens before bedtime impairs children's sleep and may diminish their quality of life (Nicholas, 2019). Although the study by Mireku et al. establishes a correlation between use of screens before bedtime and the quality of children’s sleep, the limitations of the study make the findings insufficient for parents to consider taking action to limit children’s use of screen-based media before bedtime.
The Study of Cognition Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) conducted by Mireku et al. (2019), investigated the association between screen-based media devices (SBMD) use within the hour before sleep and a number of health-related quality of life (HRQoL)and sleep outcomes separately for weekdays and weekends, both in light and darkness. The study involved 6616 children, average age 12 years, who reported their use of screens (mobile phone, game console, television, portable media player, tablet, computer or e-reader). The participants also filled a KIDSCREEN-10 Index measuring worries, stresses, social functioning and other determinants of quality of life. Mireku et al. analyzed the baseline data from the SCAMP. However, the study never took into account other factors that may affect sleeping patterns of adolescents and the authors recommend further research studies on the topic.
The results of the study are of interest to both parents and adolescents. More than 70% of adolescents use at least one SBMD device within an hour of sleep. Females had poorer sleep quality than males having difficulty falling asleep, sleeping restlessly and waking up often during the night. Night-time use of SBMD, particularly mobile phones and television was associated with poor sleep quality across all dimensions including difficulty falling asleep, insufficient sleep and waking up too early. The odds of insufficient sleep were approximately one and a half times higher for adolescents who use mobile phones in darkness compared to those who used them with lights on. In general, the use of mobile phones or television in a room with light was associated with worse sleep outcomes and poorer sleep compared to non-user with the effects magnified with use in darkness. Adolescents who used at l...