The Effect of Technology on Sleep

Research abstracts being presented at SLEEP 2009 are examining how technology affects our sleep.

One study (#1260) being presented later this morning as a poster shows that television viewing is by far the dominant pre-sleep activity, accounting for almost 50 percent of pre-bed time. The authors also published results of their study in the June 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

Another study (#1271) being presented later this morning as a poster reports that playing video games and computer games can affect sleep. College students who are “excessive” gamers had significantly poorer sleep hygiene and slept less on weekdays than “casual” gamers. Those who claimed to be addicted to gaming slept one hour less on weekdays.

A study (# 0200) being presented this afternoon as an oral presentation shows that many teens stay up too late at night using various technological devices such as a TV, computer, cell phone and MP3 player. Teens who get eight to 10 hours of sleep per night tend to do less technological “multi-tasking” after 9 p.m. The authors also published results of their study in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics. Read a summary of the study on the Sleep Education Blog.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.