Researchers looked at the effects of screen time at bedtime among 345 12-to-14-year-olds over a six-month period.
They found that not only did spending time on media devices before going to bed disrupt sleep but that it had a “bidirectional” effect such that poor sleep led to more bedtime media use.
“So it creates this vicious cycle where engaging in bedtime media use can result in poor quality sleep, which over time fuels more bedtime media use” says Atika Khurana, an associate professor in the counseling psychology and human services department at the University of Oregon, who also serves as a research scientist at the Prevention Science Institute.