Emerging Adults’ Text Message Use and Sleep Characteristics: A Multimethod, Naturalistic Study

Abstract

Emerging adults use text messaging as a principal form of social communication, day and night, and this may compromise their sleep. In this study, a hypothetical model was tested linking daytime and nighttime text message use with multiple sleep characteristics. Subjective and objective measures of texting and sleep were utilized to assess 83 college students over a seven-day period during an academic term. Greater number of daily texts, awareness of nighttime cell phone notifications, and compulsion to check nighttime notifications were significantly associated with poorer subjective sleep quality. Awareness of nighttime notifications was significantly associated with higher self-reported global sleep problems and more sleep disruptions. Results suggest potential benefits of targeting nighttime texting habits in health promotion efforts for emerging adults.

Modifying the Sleep Treatment Education Program for Students to include technology use (STEPS‐TECH): Intervention effects on objective and subjective sleep outcomes

“…University students have notoriously poor sleep habits (Buboltz et al, ), resulting in stress and other negative health outcomes (e.g., Barber et al, ; Dusselier et al, ; Lund et al, ). Technology is often cited as a contributing factor of poor sleep among students (e.g., Barber & Santuzzi, ; Murdock, ; Murdock et al, ), yet current sleep hygiene training for students does not address technology management strategies for protecting sleep (i.e., the STEPS program; Brown et al, ). Therefore, this study investigated whether a modified sleep hygiene education intervention program (STEPS‐TECH) would improve both objective and subjective sleep outcomes among college students.…”

“…In conclusion, continuing investigations on sleep and technology interventions for university students is critically important (Brown et al, ; Murdock et al, ). Students experience substantial amounts of stress and burnout in response to technology expectations (Barber & Santuzzi, ; Murdock, ); thus, students would benefit from how to manage technology to protect sleep time.…”

“…Despite the prevalence of nonexperimental research linking technology use and sleep issues (e.g., Exelmans & Van den Bulck, ; Murdock, Horissian, & Crichlow‐Ball, ; Tavernier & Willoughby, ), we know of no sleep intervention work addressing technology‐related behaviors. However, intervention research that focuses on general sleep habit information—the Sleep Treatment Education Program for Students (STEPS)—has been effective for improving some aspects of university students' self‐reported sleep (Brown et al, ).…”

“…A second limitation of the current STEPS program is that it does not directly address technology use around and during bedtime. Disruptions from electronic devices are a common part of daily university life (Gemmill & Peterson, ; Lepp, Barkley, & Karpinski, ), with cell phone use often interfering with sleep (Fossum, Nordnes, Storemark, Bjorvatn, & Pallesen, ; Murdock et al, ; Thomée, Eklöf, Gustafsson, Nilsson, & Hagberg, ) because students feel the need to respond immediately to text messages (Barber & Santuzzi, ). Therefore, supplementing the STEPS program with technology management advice may also help improve student sleep.…”

Sleep in the Social World of College Students: Bridging Interpersonal Stress and Fear of Missing Out with Mental Health

“…Multiple factors associated with the college experience may contribute to sleep deprivation [5]. For example, in two studies examining sleep and technology use among undergraduates, higher levels of nighttime cellphone use and compulsive cellphone use were associated with higher levels of sleep problems [8,9].…”