Cutting back on social media may help teens get better sleep

Teenagers are notorious for staying up late. However, new research suggests that teens may be getting less sleep than ever, which can have an impact on mental health, weight and performance at school.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow found that heavy social media use is impacting the hours of shut-eye teens are logging at night.

"Teenagers may be lying awake because they are not ready to fall asleep and then struggling to disengage from social media because they don't want to miss out," Holly Scott, the study's author, said.

The researchers looked at data from nearly 12,000 teens (ages 13-15). They asked participants to report how long they spend on social media each day and compared it to how well the teens slept.

They evaluated the sleep data based on categories such as: wake up time, time taken to fall asleep (or back asleep) and number of times waking up during the night.

They concluded that teens who use social media for more than three hours a day are more likely to go to bed later on school nights, to wake up during the night and have a harder time falling back asleep.

The data showed that girls were twice as likely as boys to spend more than five hours a day on social media. Girls were also more likely to get poorer sleep.

The average teen reported spending between 1-3 hours per day on social media. Only a third of respondents said they use social media for less than an hour a day, but they were most likely to get a healthy night of rest.

“Results indicate statistically and practically significant associations between social media use and sleep patterns, particularly late sleep onset,” the study concludes.

Researchers acknowledged that social media is an important part of a teens’ social life, but recommended that it should be used in moderation.

To help find that balance, the study recommends teens staying away from all screens at least an hour before going to sleep.

"Lack of sleep can have a significant negative impact not only on young people's wellbeing, but on their relationships with family and friends and in terms of reaching their full potential at school,” researcher Max Davie told the BBC.