Interrupted sleep: College students sleeping with technology

• Published in: Journal of American college health Vol. 67; no. 7; pp. 640 - 646
• Main Authors: Dowdell, Elizabeth B., Clayton, Brianne Q.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 03-10-2019; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude to Computers; Cell Phone Use - statistics & numerical data; Cellular telephones; College Students; Female; Habits; Handheld Devices; Health Behavior; Humans; Life Style; Male; Mobile phones; New England; Sleep; Sleep deprivation; sleep habits; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - psychology; sleep quality; sleep texting; Student Behavior; Students - psychology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Technology; Telecommunications; Text messaging; Universities; Universities - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; New England; sleep texting; sleep habits; College students; sleep quality
• ISSN: 0744-8481; 1940-3208
• DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2018.1499655

Objective: To examine the influence of cell phones and sleep quality among college students and the prevalence of sleep texting. Participants: Participants were 372 college students at two mid-size universities in 2013. Methods: A survey was used to ask about cell phone use during sleep and sleep quality. Students were asked about hours of sleep, both on a school night, and over the weekend in addition to location of cell phone. Results: A quarter of the sample (25.6%) reported sleep texting behavior along with poor sleep quality and the cell phone influencing their sleep (p < .05). Students that sleep text were more likely to report sleep interruption (p < .000), to place their phone in bed with them (p < .000), have no memory of texting (72%) or what they texted (25%). Conclusions: Sleep texting and its influence on poor sleep habits is a growing trend in a college student population.