These preliminary results suggest SRT during the acute phase does not appear to place insomnia patients at risk of significant impairments in sleepiness and reaction times. We note these findings can only be translated into clinical practice when sleep duration remains relatively unchanged. Future studies using objective measures of sleep and a control group are recommended.
Study Objectives
The aim of this study was to; 1) explore whether adolescents use technology as distraction from negative thoughts before sleep, 2) assess whether adolescents who perceive having a sleep problem use technology as distraction more compared to adolescents without sleep complaints, 3) collect qualitative information about which devices and apps adolescents use as a distraction.
Methods
This study used a mixed-methods cross-sectional design, where 684 adolescents (M = 15.1, SD = 1.2, 46% female) answered both quantitative and qualitative questions about their sleep (perceived sleep problem, sleep onset time, and sleep onset latency) and technology use as distraction from negative thoughts.
Results
The majority of adolescents answered ‘yes’ or ‘sometimes’ using technology as a distraction from negative thoughts (23.6% and 38.4%). Adolescents who answered ‘yes’ to using technology as distraction were more likely to report having a sleep problem, longer sleep onset latency and later sleep onset time, compared to adolescents who answered ‘no’. The most popular device to distract was the phone, because of its availability, and the most common apps used for distraction included YouTube, Snapchat, and music apps.
Conclusions
This study shows that many adolescents use technology to distract themselves from negative thoughts, which may help them manage the sleep-onset process. Thus, distraction may be one mechanism explaining how sleep affects technology use, rather than vice versa.
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