Sleep less, scroll more? A new study dives into how your screen habits (especially at night) might be stealing more rest than you realise.
In the digital era of today, our screens have become constant companions, even in the most intimate space of our lives—the bedroom.
Even as we tuck ourselves into bed and settle down for the night, we can’t resist catching up on some doomscrolling, or sneaking in one more episode of that new drama we’ve just come across.
But at what cost?
According to a recent study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, the more time we spend on our screens in bed, the more likely we are to get insomnia—and the possibility might be higher than we think it is.
A Gist on the Study
Data collected from participants included how many nights a week they spent with their screens in bed, how many hours it accumulated to each night, and whether they displayed symptoms of insomnia.
These symptoms were identified based on whether they struggled to fall or stay asleep at least three times per week, experienced daytime sleepiness at least three times per week, and had these sleep issues lasting for at least three months.
The conclusion?
For every extra hour of screen use in bed, the odds of experiencing insomnia symptoms jumped by 59%. Participants also slept, on average, 24 minutes less per night with each added hour of screen time.
However, the study didn’t just measure how many hours participants spent on their screens; it also determined exactly how those hours were spent.
And the outcome was rather thought-provoking.
Is Social Media The Worst Offender?
It’s long been assumed that social media is the most disruptive form of bedtime screen use. After all, the endless feed of news, updates, and FOMO can be mentally stimulating and hard to put down.
However, research on this has also been quite mixed.
Thus, to determine the accuracy of this notion, the authors of this study also measured which nighttime screen-based activity participants were involved in, be it social media use, watching a movie, listening to music, studying, or even some gaming.
Researchers split participants into three groups:
- The ‘Social media’ group, or those who only used social media in bed.
- The ‘Social media + other’ group, or those who used social media and engaged in other screen-based activities.
- The ‘Non-social media’ group, or those who did not use social media at all, and only engaged in any of the other activities.
The result of measuring this was contrary to popular belief. The ‘Social media’ group actually reported the best sleep outcome among the three, while the ‘Non-social media’ group reported the worst.
Why Would Social Media Users Sleep Better?
One theory? Connection.
Social media use doesn’t just involve randomly scrolling through our feeds; it’s a way for us to feel connected with our social circles.
By using it more, it indicates our preference towards socialising. This could be reflective of the quality and presence of our social relationships, which research has shown to have positive associations with better sleep.
Causality hasn’t been determined in this study, which means that for the ‘Non-social media’ group, rather than their activities causing sleep problems, perhaps they already have sleep problems that they are trying to resolve with their screen time.
This means that rather than keeping them awake, activities like watching movies or listening to music may simply be their chosen strategy for winding down for bed.
Concluding on Our Sleep Patterns
Even with these nuances, the study reinforced a core truth: screen time in bed affects sleep.
However, just as screen time might actually cause us to develop this sleep disorder, the authors acknowledge that the results of this study could also just be supporting the displacement hypothesis, which suggests that the time spent on electronic devices simply replaces the time that we would have otherwise spent snoozing.
For natural night owls, screens may just be a companion to their late-night wakefulness, not the cause of it.
At the end of the day, adults need at least seven to nine hours of sleep a night, not meeting this benchmark over a long period of time can result in severe sleep deprivation, which comes with its own health problems.
Insufficient sleep can affect both our physical and mental wellbeing, such as by compromising our immune system, increasing our odds of developing cancers and heart disease, causing us to gain weight and heighten our risk of diabetes, and impairing brain functioning.
Therefore, by recognising the negative effects of technology use before bedtime, we can take proactive steps to improve our sleep quality and overall wellbeing.
“If you struggle with sleep and suspect that screen time may be a factor, try to reduce screen use in bed, ideally stopping at least 30–60 minutes before sleep. If you do use screens, consider disabling notifications to minimise disruptions during the night,” advised Dr Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, who is also the lead author in this study, in Newsweek.
Swapping just one hour of scrolling for actual rest could be the reset your body needs.
External References
- Afshar, M. F. (2025, March 31). Scientists Reveal How Much an Hour’s Screen Time in Bed Could Cost You. Newsweek. Retrieved from: https://www.newsweek.com/screen-time-bed-insomnia-duration-2052087
- Gordon, A. M., Carrillo, B., & Barnes, C. M. (2021). Sleep and social relationships in healthy populations: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 57, 101428. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079221000137?via%3Dihub
- Hjetland, G. J., Skogen, J. C., Hysing, M., Gradisar, M., & Sivertsen, B. (2025). How and when screens are used: comparing different screen activities and sleep in Norwegian university students. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 16. Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273/full
- WebMD Editorial Contributors. (2024, October 21). How Much Sleep Do I Need? WebMD. Retrieved from: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-requirements
