Liese Exelmans

Sleep Quality is Negatively Related to Video Gaming Volume in Adults

Most literature on the relationship between video gaming and sleep disturbances has looked at children and adolescents. There is little research on such a relationship in adult samples. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association of video game volume with sleep quality in adults via face‐to‐face interviews using standardized questionnaires. Adults (n = 844, 56.2% women), aged 18–94 years old, participated in the study. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and gaming volume was assessed by asking the hours of gaming on a regular weekday (Mon–Thurs), Friday and weekend day (Sat–Sun). Adjusting for gender, age, educational level, exercise and perceived stress, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that video gaming volume was a significant predictor of sleep quality (β = 0.145), fatigue (β = 0.109), insomnia (β = 0.120), bedtime (β = 0.100) and rise time (β = 0.168). Each additional hour of video gaming per day delayed bedtime by 6.9 min (95% confidence interval 2.0–11.9 min) and rise time by 13.8 min (95% confidence interval 7.8–19.7 min). Attributable risk for having poor sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5) due to gaming >1 h day was 30%. When examining the components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index using multinomial regression analysis (odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals), gaming volume significantly predicted sleep latency, sleep efficiency and use of sleep medication. In general, findings support the conclusion that gaming volume is negatively related to the overall sleep quality of adults, which might be due to underlying mechanisms of screen exposure and arousal.

Bedtime, Shuteye Time and Electronic Media: Sleep Displacement is a Two-Step Process

This study argues that going to bed may not be synonymous with going to sleep, and that this fragmentation of bedtime results in a two‐step sleep displacement. We separated bedtime (i.e. going to bed) from shuteye time (i.e. attempting to go to sleep once in bed) and assessed the prevalence of electronic media use in both time slots. A convenience sample of 338 adults (aged 18–25 years, 67.6% women) participated in an online survey. Results indicated a gap of 39 min between bedtime and shuteye time, referred to as ‘shuteye latency’. Respondents with a shuteye latency of, respectively, ≤30 min, ≤1 or >1 h, were 3.3, 6.1 and 9.3 times more likely to be rated as poor sleepers compared to those who went to sleep immediately after going to bed. Before bedtime, volume of electronic media use (17 h 55 min per week) was higher than non‐media activities (14 h per week), whereas the opposite was true after bedtime (media = 3 h 41 min, non‐media = 7 h 46 min). Shuteye latency was related exclusively to prebedtime media use. Findings confirmed the proposed fragmentation of bedtime. Sleep displacement should therefore be redefined as a two‐step process, as respondents not only engage in the delay of bedtime, but also in the delay of shuteye time once in bed. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications are discussed.

The Use of Media as a Sleep Aid in Adults

A sample of 844 adults, aged 18–94 years old, was queried about media habits and sleep behavior in face-to-face interviews with standardized questionnaires. A substantial proportion of this sample reported using books (39.8%), television (31.2%), music (26.0%), Internet (23.2%), and videogames (10.3%) as a sleep aid. The use of media as sleep aids was associated with increased fatigue and higher scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), indicating poorer sleep quality. There was no relationship with sleep duration. Finally, results suggest that media use coincides with later bedtimes, but also later rise times, a process called time shifting.

Binge viewing, sleep, and the role of Pre-Sleep Arousal

STUDY OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of binge viewing, its association with sleep and examine arousal as an underlying mechanism of this association. METHODS Four hundred twenty-three adults (aged 18-25 years old, 61.9% female) completed an online survey assessing regular television viewing, binge viewing, sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), fatigue (Fatigue Assessment Scale), insomnia (Bergen Insomnia Scale), and pre-sleep arousal (Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale). Regression analyses were conducted. Mediation analysis was performed using PROCESS Macro. RESULTS There were 80.6% who identified themselves as a binge viewer. Among those who binge viewed (n = 341), 20.2% had binge viewed at least a few times a week during the past month. Among poor sleepers (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5), 32.6% had a poor sleep quality associated with being a binge viewer. Higher binge viewing frequency was associated with a poorer sleep quality, increased fatigue and more symptoms of insomnia, whereas regular television viewing was not. Cognitive pre-sleep arousal fully mediated these relationships. CONCLUSIONS New viewing styles such as binge viewing are increasingly prevalent and may pose a threat to sleep. Increased cognitive arousal functions as the mechanism explaining these effects. Measures of media exposure should take into account the users level of engagement with media. Interventions aimed at (1) alerting viewers about excessive viewing duration and (2) reducing arousal before sleep may be useful ways to tackle sleep problems in binge viewers.

Technology and Sleep: How Electronic Media Exposure Has Impacted Core Concepts of Sleep Medicine

Picture the following common scenario: A middle-aged man does not use electronic media all evening. He then goes to bed at 10 p.m. and switches off the light immediately. However, instead of going to sleep, he takes out his tablet computer and watches an entire one hour episode of his favorite TV show. When finished, he puts down the tablet and falls asleep in less than five minutes. When he wakes up after a fitful night’s sleep, he takes his smartphone and spends twenty minutes checking first his email, then what friends on another continent added to their Facebook pages. Then he gets up. In this case, what constitutes “sleep latency” or more importantly, how does it compare to the measures used in the most common sleep questionnaires? Should we also conclude there is a

Sleep Research: A Primer for Media Scholars

ABSTRACT The average amount of sleep people of all ages get has declined sharply in the past 50 years. The detrimental health effects of sleep deprivation are well documented and substantial. Even though electronic media use often takes place in the hours before sleep, the extent to which media use may interact with sleep is understudied and not well understood. Communication scholars are well positioned to contribute to this area, as a systematic, theoretical understanding of the relationship between media and sleep is still lacking. This primer charts the state of knowledge on electronic media and sleep and explores possible next steps. First, we introduce the problem of sleep deprivation and describe the basic science of sleep with relevant terminology. Then, we review the research on electronic media and sleep and offer an agenda for research.

Self-control depletion and sleep duration: the mediating role of television viewing

Abstract Objective: Sleep insufficiency has been related to self-control failure: people fail to go to bed in time and end up sleep deprived. The role of state self-control in predicting bedtime and sleep duration has not yet been investigated. Based on research claiming an overlap between depleted self-control resources and fatigue, self-control depletion may foster earlier bedtimes. Conversely, self-control depletion also increases the propensity to procrastinate bedtime by giving in to the immediate gratification of late night entertainment. This study therefore looked at procrastinatory television viewing and its intermediary role in the association between state self-control and bedtime. The implications for sleep duration are examined. Design: Firstyear students (N = 234) participated in an online survey. Using Day Reconstruction Method, they charted their activities and experiences during the preceding day and subsequent bedtime behavior. Results: Self-control depletion was directly related to earlier bedtimes, which we explained by its similarity to fatigue. This was associated with longer sleep duration. Self-control depletion was indirectly related to later bedtimes because it increased the propensity to procrastinate by watching television. This was associated with shorter sleep duration. Conclusion: This study exposes a dual pathway between self-control depletion and sleep duration, whereby procrastinatory television viewing may reduce sleep duration.

Sleep latency versus shuteye latency: Prevalence, predictors and relation to insomnia symptoms in a representative sample of adults

Shuteye latency (SEL) refers to the time spent performing activities in bed before attempting sleep. This study investigates (a) the prevalence, duration and predictors of SEL, (b) its association with insomnia symptoms (sleep onset latency [SOL], sleep quality and fatigue), and (c) the activities engaged in during SEL. A representative sample of 584 adults (18–96 years old) participated in an online survey. Respondents reported their SEL on weekday nights (Sunday to Thursday) and weekend nights (Friday and Saturday), and activities during SEL. One in five adults tried to sleep immediately at bedtime. Around 16% of respondents were awake >30 min on both weekday and weekend nights. Younger people and those with an eveningness preference reported longer SEL. Longer SEL corresponded with a progressive decline in sleep quality, increased SOL and more fatigue. Those with an SEL >30 min reported using both passive (e.g. television) and interactive (e.g. smartphone) media more frequently than respondents with an SEL < 30 min, but there was no difference between the groups for non‐screen‐related activities. Implications of SEL for measurements commonly used in sleep research are discussed. Shuteye latency may be symptomatic of how a modern lifestyle puts increasing pressure on sleep, but may also reveal a previously undocumented behaviour associated with insomnia symptoms.