Cell phones keeping students up

We know young people feel a strong attachment to their cell phones and view them as a link to their social network.

But a recent study at the University of Rhode Island found that students there were losing an average of 45 minutes of sleep each week due to cell phone use and texting. 

Sue Adams, a URI assistant professor of human development and family studies, joined The Rhode Show to talk more about it.

What prompted you to look into the link between student’s use of cell phones and their sleep?

It started with a class assignment in 2007 when I asked students to keep sleep journals.  I wanted students to reflect on their sleep habits and how it impacts their well-being.  Many students came back to me and said, “This was great and I learned a lot about my sleep. But there is one thing that you didn’t ask me about which was technology use. I wake up in the middle of the night to answer calls and texts.”

Getting that feedback led me to launch a study of more than 200 juniors and seniors at the university to take a direct look at the connection between cell phone usage and sleep habits.  We found that cell phones were disrupting their sleep and were associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression caused by insufficient rest.  It is important to note that studies have shown that college students need nine and one-quarter hours of sleep each night and are only getting an average of seven. College students already suffer from a “sleep debt” of two hours a night. When you combine the loss of another 45 minutes per week because of cell phone use, and the fact that nighttime wakings interfere with important REM sleep, the problem becomes pretty significant. We also expect that freshmen will have even higher rates of technology use after sleep onset.

What we’re hoping to do is drive home the point to students that they really need to form boundaries with their technology use. When you’re in high school and living at home, you hopefully have people there telling you to put the phone away and get to bed.  In college, students lose that and really need to set sensible boundaries for themselves.

What keeps kids up at night using their cell phones?

That’s a good question and we are in the process of studying that issue.  When students feel compelled to wake up in the middle of the night and answer texts or phone calls, you would think they’re being driven by some desire to stay connected.  And for some students, it may be a matter of anxiety—a fear of being left out of a discussion or of missing out on something important.

There is a great deal of interesting research being done on this now.  Some people suggest that the nature of these technologies, which are making communications more rapid and constant, are creating expectations that people should always be available.  But when that constant availability is leading to a loss of sleep, and side effects such as anxiety, depression, or even lower GPA, we really need to make sure students understand the consequences of being too attached to their phones.