Your evening scroll through social media could be costing you far more than just time. New research reveals that screen time before bed dramatically increases your chances of developing insomnia – with just one hour of bedtime screen use pushing your risk up by 59% and stealing away 24 precious minutes of sleep. When you consider that insomnia already affects one in three people across the UK, these findings should give us all pause.

You’ve probably noticed how your phone seems to keep you awake longer than intended. The evidence now backs up what many of us suspected – our devices are seriously disrupting our sleep quality. Researchers studied 45,202 young adults aged 18 to 28 and discovered something quite alarming: each extra hour of screen time was connected to a 63% increase in insomnia risk.

Even more concerning? People who used screens before bed every day were 33% more likely to report poor sleep quality. The numbers tell a clear story – those daily screen users lost 48 minutes of sleep each week compared to people who kept their devices away from bedtime. That might not sound like much, but this sleep loss adds up quickly and can affect both your immediate wellbeing and long-term health.

Study Finds Screen Time Before Bed Raises Insomnia Risk by 60%

Norwegian researchers have delivered concrete proof about how night-time device usage affects our sleep quality. This extensive research analysed data from 45,202 university students aged 18 to 28, providing unprecedented insights into how our digital habits impact rest.

Survey of 45,000 students reveals strong correlation

The nationally representative survey, conducted as part of the Students’ Health and Well-being Study 2022, asked participants detailed questions about their screen use behaviours and sleep patterns. What happens after people climb into bed with their devices? Researchers wanted to find out exactly that. The results revealed a startling connection between in-bed screen time and poor sleep outcomes.

Dr. Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, who led the study, explained: “We found that screen use itself is the key factor in , likely due to ‘time displacement,’ where screen use delays sleep”.sleep disruption

Each hour of screen use cuts 24 minutes of sleep

The findings paint a remarkably consistent picture. Increasing screen time after bedtime by one hour boosted the odds of insomnia symptoms by 59%. That extra hour of screen time directly cost participants 24 minutes of total sleep on average. The research team published their findings in Frontiers in Psychiatry, highlighting the growing disconnect between technology use and sleep hygiene among young adults.

Social media not more harmful than other screen activities

Here’s something that might surprise you – the study discovered that social media use wasn’t uniquely harmful compared to other screen activities. “The type of screen activity does not appear to matter as much as the overall time spent using screens in bed,” explained Dr. Hjetland. The research found no significant interaction between time spent using screens and the choice of activity, suggesting the activity itself didn’t affect how long people stayed awake.

Students who exclusively used social media actually had the lowest rates of insomnia and the longest sleep duration compared to those engaged in other screen activities or a mix of activities. Senior researcher Børg Sivertsen noted: “While previous research has often suggested that social media use is particularly disruptive to sleep, our findings challenge this notion”.

The researchers established a clear correlation between bedtime screen use and sleep disruption, though they acknowledged they had not yet established causality.

Researchers Explain How Screen Time Disrupts Sleep

The science behind why our devices sabotage sleep isn’t mysterious anymore. Researchers have pinpointed exactly how  interferes with our body’s natural wind-down process, and the mechanisms are more powerful than you might expect.screen time before bed

Time displacement delays sleep onset

The simplest explanation is also the most obvious one – screens quite literally steal time from sleep. When children aged 3-6 spend an extra hour on devices, they lose approximately 10 minutes of sleep. The pattern holds true across different populations: Hong Kong children lose 11 minutes of sleep for boys and 6 minutes for girls with each additional hour of screen use. This displacement effect hits hardest during evening hours, precisely when our bodies should be preparing for rest.

Light exposure suppresses melatonin

Here’s where things get seriously disruptive. The light streaming from your screen doesn’t just keep you visually stimulated – it actively sabotages your sleep hormones. Room light before bedtime suppressed melatonin onset in 99% of people tested and cut melatonin duration by a massive 90 minutes compared to dim conditions.

proves particularly troublesome. Harvard research revealed that blue light suppressed melatonin for twice as long as green light of similar brightness. Even more striking? Blue light shifted people’s circadian rhythms by 3 hours compared to just 1.5 hours for green light.Blue light

Interactive content increases alertness

Not every screen activity affects sleep equally, though. Interactive engagement – texting friends, gaming, scrolling social feeds – creates far more sleep disruption than passive viewing. Adolescents who used screens interactively in the hour before bed took 30 minutes longer to fall asleep than those who avoided such activities. Gaming proves especially problematic, with each extra hour of play delaying sleep timing by approximately 10 minutes.

The psychological stimulation matters just as much as the physical light exposure. Social media checking can trigger presleep arousal, whilst emotionally charged content maintains a state of heightened alertness that makes relaxation nearly impossible. This cognitive and physiological arousal delays sleep onset well beyond what light exposure alone would cause.

Experts Recommend How to Reduce Screen Time Before Bed

Sleep specialists have developed clear guidelines for managing screen time before bed that actually work. Their recommendations cover timing, practical habits, and smart technology settings to help you reclaim those lost hours of rest.

When to stop screen time before bed

How long before bedtime should you put your devices away? The National Sleep Foundation suggests switching off devices 30 minutes before bedtime, whilst other researchers recommend at least 60 minutes. Cleveland Clinic specialists say an hour or two before bed works as a good general rule. For children, the American Academy of Paediatrics is even more specific – they should avoid screens for at least one hour before sleep.

How to reduce screen time before bed effectively

Creating a  proves remarkably effective for better sleep. Experts recommend charging your devices outside the bedroom and replacing that late-night phone habit with alternatives like reading books, journaling, solving puzzles, or listening to audiobooks.screen-free bedroom environment

Struggling to keep your hands off your phone? Try placing devices in different rooms or invest in a proper bedside clock radio. These simple swaps can make all the difference to your evening routine.

Use of night mode and notification silencing

Your devices can actually help you sleep better when you use the right settings. Most phones and tablets now include . The most effective night modes both cut blue light and dim your display brightness.night mode settings that reduce blue light emissions

Don’t forget to activate Do Not Disturb features to silence those late-night notifications. Apple devices call this Night Shift, whilst Android offers Night Light or Blue Light filter options.

Establishing a consistent bedtime routine

The foundation of better sleep remains a rock-solid routine. Sleep experts emphasise creating relaxing pre-sleep rituals that don’t involve screens. Keeping regular bedtimes and wake times helps your body adapt to your natural sleep needs.

Simple activities like meditation, gentle stretching, or sipping chamomile tea can signal to your brain that it’s time to wind down. The key is consistency – your body thrives on predictable patterns.

What questions remain about the research?

While the evidence connecting screens to sleep problems looks compelling, researchers are honest about the gaps in their work. Several important limitations mean we can’t draw absolute conclusions just yet.

The challenge of measuring real screen use

Most studies depend on , which often don’t match what people actually do. A 2015 Taiwan university study showed just how much people underestimate their screen time. There’s also the issue of who gets studied – many research projects focus mainly on university students, missing out on how screens affect different age groups and backgrounds.self-reported screen usage statistics

Take one recent study where 50.4% of participants had family incomes above £79,420. That’s hardly representative of most families, is it? Cultural differences matter too, with screen time patterns varying significantly between countries.

Why we need better measurement tools

Self-reports bring their own problems – memory bias and measurement errors creep in. Even actigraphy, which tracks movement to gauge sleep, becomes less accurate when studying people with insomnia. Scientists increasingly believe we need objective measures like polysomnography or direct device tracking for reliable insights.

But even these sophisticated tools have limitations.  show that physiological sleep metrics only modestly predict health outcomes.AUROC values typically between 0.5-0.6

The causality puzzle remains unsolved

Here’s the big question: do screens cause sleep problems, or do people with existing sleep issues turn to screens? Most current research can’t answer this because it captures just a snapshot in time rather than following people over months or years. We simply don’t know which comes first.

Researchers suggest future studies need multivariate analysis that accounts for all devices and other factors affecting sleep quality. We need longer observation periods, seasonal variations, and much more diverse populations to really understand what’s happening.

The choice is yours

The evidence is clear – your bedtime screen habits directly impact how well you sleep. Just one hour of screen time  and costs you 24 precious minutes of rest. Those lost minutes add up quickly, affecting everything from your mood to your long-term health.raises insomnia risk by approximately 60%

What’s causing this disruption? Blue light throws off your natural melatonin production, while the simple act of staying on your device pushes back your actual bedtime. Interactive content keeps your brain buzzing with activity when it should be winding down. Interestingly, scrolling through social media isn’t necessarily worse than other screen activities – it’s the total time spent that matters most.

Ready to reclaim your sleep? Start with a screen-free period before bed. Aim for 30-60 minutes without devices, and you’ll notice the difference. Simple changes like charging your phone outside the bedroom, switching on night mode settings, and silencing notifications during sleep hours can break those late-night scrolling patterns.

Don’t forget – while researchers are still working out the exact cause-and-effect relationship, the connection between screens and poor sleep remains incredibly strong. Why wait for more studies when you can start protecting your sleep tonight?

Your evening routine deserves serious consideration. Yes, screens bring tremendous benefits to our daily lives, but their impact on your rest shouldn’t be overlooked. That final scroll through one more video versus gaining 24 extra minutes of restorative sleep might seem like a small choice right now – but night after night, this single decision shapes your wellbeing in ways you’ll feel for years to come.