How bedtime media use affects our health

It's not uncommon to hear people complain about frequent insomnia, especially post the Covid-19 pandemic. Even the early birds started staying up late into the night, binge-watching films or web series or scrolling through social media, as there was no other outlet during the lockdown. Now, although the restrictions have been lifted, the habit stayed on. Recent research examined how sleep might be impacted by media use, such as watching movies, television, or YouTube videos, browsing the Internet, or listening to music before bed.

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The study was published in the 'Journal of Sleep Research'. In the study, 58 adults kept a diary that recorded information related to time spent with media before bed, location of use, and multitasking.

Electroencephalography tests that detect electrical activity of the brain using small metal discs attached to the scalp captured parameters such as bedtime, total sleep time, and sleep quality.

Media use in the hour before sleep was associated with an earlier bedtime. If the before-bed use did not involve multitasking and was conducted in bed, it was also associated with total sleep time.

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Prolonged media use was associated with later bedtime and less total sleep time. Sleep quality was unaffected by brief media use before bed.

"If you are going to use media, like watching TV or listening to music, before bed, keep it a short, focused session, and you are unlikely to experience any negative outcomes in your sleep that night," said lead author Morgan Ellithorpe, PhD, of the University of Delaware.

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(ANI)