Interplay between social media use, sleep quality and mental health outcomes in youth: a systematic review

Impact of Social Media Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder on Sleep Quality: Serial Mediation Analyses

Poor sleep quality is a concerning and prevalent consequence of social media addiction (SMA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD). Due to the lack of research examining how SMA and IGD lead to poor sleep quality, the current study aimed to understand the relationship between SMA and sleep quality, as well as that between IGD and sleep quality, through impulse control and bedtime procrastination. The study tested the hypotheses that higher levels of SMA and IGD would predict lower levels of impulse control, which would then predict higher levels of bedtime procrastination, leading to poorer sleep quality. A serial mediation analysis was performed with a sample of 221 participants (63.3% females, 34.4% males, and 2.3% prefer not to say) aged 18 to 53 years (M = 23.64, SD = 5.72). Participants completed questionnaires that assessed for social media addiction, internet gaming disorder, impulse control factor, bedtime procrastination, and sleep quality. There was a full serial mediation of impulse control and bedtime procrastination in the relationship between SMA and sleep quality, as well as that between IGD and sleep quality, providing support for the hypotheses. The findings provide the knowledge needed to develop and implement strategies that target impulse control issues and reduce bedtime procrastination to improve sleep quality.

Social media use is linked to poor sleep quality: The opportunities and challenges to support evidence-informed policymaking in the UAE

BACKGROUND

This study was conducted among a convenience sample of Ajman University students in UAE between February 2018 and May 2019.

METHODS

All undergraduate and master's degree students from the 1st to 5th year of medical and non-medical colleges. The survey was carried out by distributing a pre-designed, pre-structured questionnaire to the students during lectures. The questionnaires were primarily composed of three sections: demographic characteristics, educational characteristics and sleep quality characteristics. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14.2. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between sleep characteristics, social media use and other significant risk factors. The P-values < 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS

The vast majority of the study participants were social media users, and a considerable proportion suffered from poor sleep quality. A significantly increased risk of bad sleep quality and intermittent/anxious sleep patterns were observed among social media users.

CONCLUSION

Health policymakers should fully consider these factors in improving the sleep quality of university students.

Taking a Break from Social Media Improves Wellbeing Through Sleep Quality

As social media use has increased in prevalence, so have concerns that social media may be detrimental to mental health and wellbeing. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate whether limiting social media use leads to increases in wellbeing. A secondary aim was to assess whether sleep quality contributed to the hypothesized relationship between social media use and wellbeing. One hundred and thirty-two individuals participated in the current study, with half the participants limiting their use of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat for 1 week. Social media use was monitored by having participants email screen shots of their battery usage, which included information on the level of usage for Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Relative to a control group that did not limit social media use, taking a break from social media led to a small improvement in wellbeing. This improvement, at least in part, appears to be due to changes in sleep quality.