How Do Electronics Affect Teenagers' Sleep?

When you remember your teen as a toddler who could not bear to part with her intriguing environment, it becomes easier to understand your teen's reticence to part with her electronic devices at nighttime. For teens who do not receive adequate sleep, electronic devices serve as an obstacle to restful sleep in their nighttime environment. Parents can provide encouragement and support to help teens create healthier sleep habits.

  1. Risk for Sleep Deficits

    • Kids Health recommends that teens receive between 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 hours of sleep each night, but most teens do not get adequate sleep. A biological factor that contributes to teen sleep woes is the teen̵7;s body clock, or circadian rhythm, which resets during the teenage stage of development. The modified body clock reprograms a teen̵7;s sleep-wake schedule to produce later sleep onset and waking times. When the reset circadian rhythm combines with external challenges to sleep such as the use of electronics and overloaded schedules, a substantial risk for sleep deficits exists.

    Electronics as an Obstacle to Sleep

    • A sleep area devoted exclusively to sleep may appear unrealistic to your teen. For a multitasking teenager, the bedroom may serve as a hub for social networking, text messaging and telephone calls. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that minimizing distractions such as electronic devices from the sleep environment functions to increase the likelihood that your teen will get more sleep. Electronic devices inhibit sleep by spurring mental and physical stimulation. Mental stimulation occurs in the form of increased electrical activity in the brain. Physical stimulation occurs when your teen interacts with an electronic device. For example, responding to a text message can produce stress, triggering the production of the stress hormone called cortisol. Encourage your teen to power down all electronic devices at least an hour before she plans to sleep.

    Easing Into Powering Off Electronic Devices

    • Parents who encourage their teens to power off electronic devices typically meet with resistance. When Kids Health surveyed teens about the importance of sleep, only 40 percent of the teen survey participants indicated that they planned to stop messaging peers at night. Teens experience more success in keeping electronic devices off when all their friends commit to stop messaging after an agreed-upon time. Help your teen to understand that staying connected is not a measure of friendship, and that friendships are difficult to maintain when both parties are sleep-deprived.

    When to Seek Help

    • Teens who do not receive adequate sleep may struggle to awaken, complain of excessive fatigue, exhibit problems concentrating and fall asleep in school settings. If these problems describe your teen, or if sleep problems consistently interfere with her daily functioning, consult your teen's doctor for help. A doctor can determine the impact of using electronic devices in the sleeping environment and recommend how modifications such as turning off those devices can build good sleeping habits for the future.

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