How night phone use and cyberbullying affect sleep and wellbeing

It’s no secret that phone use, along with other screens, has become prolific — especially among young people. But what happens when screen time extends into the night?

In collaboration with our partners at the Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Centre, University of South Australia, we've just published a new study exploring nighttime phone use and its impact on sleep and wellbeing.

This peer-reviewed article examines the effects of nighttime phone use on the sleep and wellbeing of Australian children aged from 7 to 19 years. It also considers past exposure to cyberbullying and the impact this can have.

If you’re interested in learning more about how these factors are shaping the health of young people, read the abstract below and check out the full peer-reviewed article here: Nighttime Phone Use and Past Exposure to Cyberbullying and Their Impact on Sleep and Psychological Wellbeing in Australian Children Aged 7 to 19 Years.

Abstract

Background: Cyberbullying and nighttime phone use are independently detrimental to sleep and psychological wellbeing, but whether in combination they might be more disruptive remains unknown. Methods: Students aged 7–19 years (N = 53,734) completed a survey measuring sleep duration, nighttime phone use, cyberbullying, and psychological distress. Results: Across stratification variables of gender (F/M) and age group (primary/secondary-school-aged children), bivariate ordered probit regression revealed that being cyberbullied and nighttime phone use were independent predictors of both increased psychological distress and obtaining <8 h sleep. Nighttime phone use was observed to moderate the relationship between cyberbullying and sleep in both primary- and secondary-school-aged girls and boys and, likewise, between cyberbullying and psychological distress, especially in secondary-school-aged boys. Notably, the moderation effect was such that the impact of nighttime phone use was lower in children who were compared with those who were not cyberbullied. This may be a ceiling effect due to the high number of cyberbullied children reporting shortened sleep and higher levels of psychological distress. Discussion: The present findings point to a possible role of nighttime phone use as a moderator of the effect of cyberbullying on sleep and psychological wellbeing. There is a need for future studies to better explore more directly the effects of cyberbullying during the nighttime.

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