Having trouble sleeping? Maybe it’s time to put your phone down before bed. A study involving more than 45,000 university students in Norway found that using screens in bed increases the risk of insomnia by 59% and reduces sleep duration by 24 minutes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re scrolling through social media, watching series or browsing the web — the problem isn’t the activity, but the total time spent on screens.
“The type of screen activity does not appear to matter as much as the overall time spent using screens in bed,” explains Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry. Screen use delays sleep by taking up time that would otherwise be spent resting.
The research, based on the 2022 national Students’ Health and Wellbeing survey, analyzed data from 45,202 participants aged 18–28. Participants reported how long they used screens in bed and for what activities — such as social media, watching shows, gaming, web surfing, listening to audio, or reading study-related material. They were also asked about their bedtime routines and sleep quality, including symptoms of insomnia.
Although the researchers expected social media to be more disruptive due to its interactive and emotional nature, no significant differences were found between social media use and other screen activities. In fact, participants who only used social media had fewer insomnia symptoms and longer sleep duration than those who engaged in a mix of activities.
The study does not prove causation — it’s unclear whether screen use causes insomnia or if people with insomnia turn to screens more often. Still, the pattern is clear: more screen time after bedtime is linked to poorer sleep.
If sleep is an issue for you, the advice is simple: stop using screens at least 30 minutes before bed and disable notifications to avoid disruptions during the night.
Associate Professor at University of Granada