Data from over 85,000 teenagers (through an analysis of several studies of teenage sleep) showed that different forms of technology use (e.g., televisions,  computers,  phones –and even video gaming) were related to later bedtimes.  The more frequently adolescents used technology in the evening,  the later they went to bed.  Using technology often may increase alertness and/or reduce the ability to recognize sleepiness at night.  Thus the teenagers keep playing,  surfing,  texting, and chatting,  resulting in delayed bedtime.

Technological devices can be either interactive or passive. Passive devices  are those which  need  little to no input from the users.  Examples include listening to music,  reading an e-book,  watching television or a movie.  With  interactive devices  what  is  viewed  on  the  screen  changes with input from the user.  For example,  playing a video game is clearly interactive.  To a lesser extent,  so is surfing the web,  messaging, and making posts on computers,  laptops,  tablets, and smartphones. Researchers propose that interactive technological activities are more harmful to getting ready for sleep compared to passive activities.

Studies have tested the effects of bright tablets (e.g. ipads) and laptop screens for up to 5 hours before bed.  It seems that the natural evening rise in melatonin (a hormone that makes us ready for sleep) is not affected by 1 hour of bright screen light,  but it is after 1.5 hours.  Thus after  5  hours of technology use in the evening people report feeling less sleepy.  They also do better on mental performance tests and their brainwaves suggest increased alertness.  Repeated use of a bright screen over  5  days can delay the body clock by 1.5 hours.  This ...

Parents of a pre-teenaged child should try to restrict technology use to after-school or earlier in the evening. Plan quiet activities (board games, drawing, playing with toys, reading) closer to bedtime. This negotiation is more difficult in the teenage years. Try to encourage interactive technology use (e.g., video-gaming, smart phones) earlier in the evening, and use of passive technological devices (e.g., watching TV/movies, reading) in the lead up to bedtime. A certain level of accepting evening technology use is needed. After all, it has been found that more than 90% of both teenagers and adults (13 to 64 years old) ...

Dim the screen as much as possible for evening use.  In many e-readers you can even invert the screen color (i.e.,  white font on black background).  A free software program for PCs and laptops decreases the amount of blue light (which affects melatonin levels) in computer screens during the evening and increases orange tones instead.  This program is called f.lux and is at  https://justgetflux.com For information on over 60 different sleep-related topics, written by professionals, visit the Sleep Health  Foundation  Information  Library at www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au. The underlined topics in this article are covered in detail there.

No.  Some people are more affected than others.  Some young people, especially those who don’t play lots of computer games,  can be sensitive  to the  effects  of violent  video  games  and  this  affects their sleep.  However,  more experienced gamers may habituate to using technology before bed and are less affected by violent video games. Also,  teenagers  who  are  consider  themselves  to  be  less  risk-takers are more  likely  to  stop  gaming  earlier and  go to  bed  earlier than  their higher risk-taking peers.  Finally,  those teenagers who strongly immerse themselves in computer game activity (experiencing what is called a ‘flow’ state) play ...

Self-reports suggest that sleep is indeed affected by technology use in the hour before bed. Such late-night technology users report less satisfactory sleep more often than those not using technology before bed.  They are also more likely to feel sleepier during the day in a range of situations,  including driving.  These findings relate to both using a computer or laptop before bed or texting. The findings are from a  2011 US study that involved over 1500 people,  surveyed by the US National Sleep Foundation.

The bright screen light from  devices  can  cause  increased alertness Activities on such devices can be  stimulating and make us less ready to sleep People can become  absorbed and continue using technology beyond their usual bedtime