Extra daily screen time might delay bedtime but doesn't seem to impact sleep in young people

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-03 03:00

Australia; VIC; QLD

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Australian researchers have looked at how young people's individual screen use on a given day impacts their sleep that night and have found that while more screen time might delay someone's bedtime, it doesn't seem to impact other measures of healthy sleep. The research team say most reviews of the evidence around screen time look at whether people who use screens more than others also sleep worse on average, but this study looked at how each person's individual screen time impacted their sleep that night. They found that more daily screen use in people aged 3 to 25 was related to later bedtimes but not related to total sleep time, the time it takes to go to sleep, sleep efficiency, waking after falling asleep, or sleep quality.

News release

From: JAMA

Within-Person Association Between Daily Screen Use and Sleep in Youth

About The Study: Per the results of this systematic review and meta-analysis, daily screen time has a small but significant within-person correlation with later sleep onset; however, short-term daily fluctuations in screen time appear to have minimal impact on sleep duration, efficiency, or quality. Screen time may delay bedtime but is not inherently detrimental to other aspects of sleep health in youth, contrasting with between-person studies showing stronger adverse associations.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child

Funder: Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

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