Jan 26, 2011 - keywords anxiety, bedroom, depression, insomnia, media use, sleep habits ... telephone, online computer use, computer games, listening to.
Insomnia
J. Sleep Res. (2011) 20, 569–575 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2011.00913.x
The relationship between media use in the bedroom, sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia GEIR SCOTT BRUNBORG1, RUNE AUNE MENTZONI1, HELGE MOLDE1, H E L G A M Y R S E T H 1 , K N U T J O A C H I M M A˚ R S K O U V E R Ø E 1 , B J Ø R N B J O R V A T N 2 , 3 and S T A˚ L E P A L L E S E N 1 , 2 1 Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, 2Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway and 3Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Accepted in revised form 26 January 2011; received 13 April 2010
SUMMARY
This postal questionnaire study investigated the use of media in the bedroom and its relationships with sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia. The sample comprised 2500 individuals aged 16–40 years drawn randomly from the Norwegian national register. A total of 816 (34.0%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Respondents were asked how often they used computers, television sets, DVD players, game consoles and mobile telephones and listened to music ⁄ radio in their bedrooms. They also reported sleep habits on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off and symptoms of insomnia. After controlling for gender, age, anxiety and depression, the respondents who used a computer in the bedroom ÔoftenÕ compared to ÔrarelyÕ rose later on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off, turned off the lights to go to sleep later at weekends ⁄ days off, slept more hours at weekends ⁄ days off and had a greater discrepancy between turning off the lights to go to sleep on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off. Respondents who used a mobile telephone in their bedrooms at night ÔoftenÕ compared to ÔrarelyÕ turned off the lights to go to sleep later on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off, and rose later at weekends ⁄ days off. No such differences were found with the use of the other media. There were also no significant differences in symptoms of insomnia. This study indicates that the use of computers and mobile telephones in the bedroom are related to poor sleep habits, but that media use in the bedroom seems to be unrelated to symptoms of insomnia. keywords
anxiety, bedroom, depression, insomnia, media use, sleep habits
INTRODUCTION With the increase in use of various electronic media, such as television, computers, video games, mobile telephones and audio devices, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate how media use is affecting individualsÕ lifestyles. One important avenue for research on this topic is to Correspondence: Geir Scott Brunborg, Department of Psychosocial science, University of Bergen, Christiesgt. 12, 5015 Bergen, Norway. Tel: +47 55 58 32 90; fax: +47 55 58 98 79; e-mail: geir.brunborg@ psysp.uib.no 2011 European Sleep Research Society
investigate whether media use is related to poor sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia. Most of the sparse research on the relationship between media use and sleep has focused on the effect of media use on sleep among children and adolescents. It has been found that children with a television set in their bedrooms go to bed later on both weekdays and at weekends, and spend fewer hours in bed on weekdays, compared to children who do not have a television set in their bedrooms. Also, children with a gaming console in their bedrooms go to bed later at weekends and spend fewer hours in bed on weekdays, compared to children without a gaming console in their bedrooms (Van Den Bulck,
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G. S. Brunborg et al.
2004). The same tendency has been found with the use of mobile telephones. Research has shown that the more children used their mobile telephones after lights out, the more likely they were to feel tired at 1-year follow-up (Van Den Bulck, 2007). Among adolescents, the amount of time spent multitasking in late evenings, including media use (television, mobile telephone, online computer use, computer games, listening to music) has been found to be related negatively to the number of hours of sleep obtained on school nights (Calamaro et al., 2009). Very few studies have investigated the association between media use and sleep in adults. One study found that the more hours adults spent watching television and using the internet before sleep, the more likely they were to report insufficient sleep (Suganuma et al., 2007). However, a different study found that good sleepers and poor sleepers did not differ on the average number of days per week they watched television in bed (Gellis and Lichstein, 2009). Because of such inconsistent findings, and because of the scarcity of studies investigating the relationship between media use and sleep among adults, more research is warranted. In addition to having focused mainly on children and adolescents, studies in the field have also often neglected to control for variables which may be related to media use, sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia, such as gender, age, anxiety and depression. For example, research on adolescents has shown that girls generally talk more on the telephone and use online instant messaging more often than boys, while boys play video games more often than girls (Ohannessian, 2009). It is well documented that women have a greater risk of insomnia compared to men (Ford and Kamerow, 1989; Sivertsen et al., 2009; Zhang and Wing, 2006). The relationship between insomnia and depression and anxiety is also well established (Taylor et al., 2005). In several studies, age has been associated with sleep habits and insomnia. Adolescents and young adults seem to have a greater general preference for staying up late and to rise late (Roenneberg et al., 2004). The prevalence rate of insomnia increases with age (Sivertsen et al., 2009). Media use may also be more prevalent in younger compared to older adults (Suganuma et al., 2007). Based on these findings, gender, age, anxiety and depression should consequently be controlled for in studies of the relationship between media use and sleep, as they may be possible confounders. In this study we investigated the relationship between media use and sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia in a randomized sample of Norwegians aged 16–40 years. We investigated whether use of computers, television, DVD players, video game consoles, mobile telephones and audio devices in the bedroom would be associated with the time at which respondents went to bed on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off, when they rose on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off, the number of hours of sleep they had on weekdays and at weekends ⁄ days off, the differences between getting up and going to sleep on weekdays versus at weekends ⁄ days off, as well as with symptoms of insomnia.
METHODS Participants A representative sample comprising 2500 Norwegians between the ages of 16 (including 15-year-olds who turned 16 that year) and 40 years were selected randomly from the national register. Anonymous self-report questionnaires were distributed to the sample by postal mail. Respondents had the option of completing the questionnaire on paper and returning it in an enclosed prepaid envelope, or completing the questionnaire online. Due to failure to locate addresses, 101 questionnaires were returned by the postal service. A total of 816 questionnaires were completed and returned, yielding a response rate of 34.0%. The participants consisted of 56.1% women and 43.9% men. Mean age was 27.9 [standard deviation (SD) = 7.4] years. The study was approved by the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics in western Norway. Measures Media use Participants were asked to indicate how often they used a computer in their bedrooms, watched television in their bedrooms, used a DVD player in their bedrooms, used a game console in their bedrooms, used a mobile telephone in their bedrooms at night and listened to music ⁄ radio in bed. Participants responded on a scale which contained the following alternatives: Ôevery dayÕ, Ô4–6 days per weekÕ, Ô2–3 days per weekÕ, Ô1 day per weekÕ, Ô1–3 days per monthÕ, Ômore rarely than 1 day per monthÕ and ÔneverÕ. Table 1 shows the percentages of use of all types of media. Sleep habits Participants indicated at what hour they switched off the lights and tried to go to sleep on weekdays, at what hour they usually
Table 1 Percentages for use of each media type in the bedroom for all respondents Frequency
Computer
TV
DVD
Games
Mobile
Music
Never
48.0
75.2
75.9
91.5
26.0
44.9
