Late-Night Digital Media Use in Relation to Chronotype, Sleep and Tiredness on School Days in Adolescence

Abstract

Previous studies on late-night digital media use and adolescent sleep have not considered how chronotype, a natural tendency to be awake or asleep at certain time, is associated with this relationship. Therefore, the nature of the relationship between late-night digital media use and sleep in different chronotypes remains still unknown. The sample consisted of 15-20-year-old Finnish adolescents (n = 1084, mean age = 16.9 years, SD = 0.93, 45.7% female). This study examined whether chronotype, measured as diurnal type and midpoint of sleep, was associated with the time of evening/night when digital media was used. Associations between the use of different forms of digital media and sleep quality, sleep duration and tiredness on school days were also investigated. Finally, the mediation effect of late-night digital media use to the relationship between chronotype and sleep was examined. Generalized linear models showed that evening chronotype, weekend midpoint of sleep, and the time of evening or night at which digital media was used were associated with more insufficient sleep and tiredness, lower sleep quality and shorter sleep duration on school days. The total use of all media forms, i.e., late-night digital media for music, movies/series, social media, and studying, were associated with shorter sleep duration and more insufficient sleep and daytime tiredness. Late-night social media use also mediated the association between diurnal type and sleep quality. Watching movies or listening to music late at night was the strongest mediator of the association between diurnal type and sleep and tiredness. The most prominent finding shows that of the all different media forms, watching movies or listening to music late at night were associated with increased daytime tiredness, whereas late social media use was associated with poor sleep quality. These interactions were pronounced especially for evening-types. The findings of the current study suggest that the negative effects of late-night media use are reflected especially in sleep quality and daytime tiredness among evening-types during adolescence.

Keywords: Diurnal preference; Eveningness; Insufficient sleep; Screentime; Sleep quality; Youth.

Fig. 1

Mediating effect of late-night digital media use on association between diurnal type and sleep/tiredness. Analyses adjusted for gender and participant age. Direct effect (c´) is the association of diurnal type with sleep quality, sleep duration, insufficient sleep, and tiredness, controlling for late-night digital media use. The indirect effect (ab) is the mediated effect