The Effect Of Social Media Use On Sleep Quality Among College Athletes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social media use among young adults has increased significantly in recentyears. Existing literature suggests that increased social media use is linked to poor sleep quality,but this is unexplored in college athletes, who pose a unique risk for poor sleep given academic,social, and sport demands. PURPOSE: 1) To examine the effect of social media use on sleepquality among college athletes. 2) To compare the effect of social media use on sleep quality bysex. METHODS: Study participants included local NCAA Division III college athletes. Across sectional study design was employed. Data was collected using social media use andPROMIS sleep disturbance questionnaires. Main outcome measures were social media volumemeasured in hours of social media use per day over 7 days and collected using iPhone screentime function. Sleep quality was determined using the PROMIS T-score. Statistical analysisutilized Pearson’s correlation (little: r<.25, weak: r=.25-.50, moderate: r=.50-.75, strong: r>.75),t-test (p<.05), and effect size (small: Cohen’s d=.20, medium: Cohen’s d=.50, large: Cohen’sd>.80). RESULTS: 87 athletes (age:19.5• 1.2 years, 40 males, 47 females) completed thesurvey. Mean social media use was 4.6±3.4 hours/day. Female athletes spent more time on socialmedia compared to male athletes (5.0±3.2 and 4.1±3.5 hours/day respectively, p=.018, Cohen’sd=.27). No correlation was found between increased social media time and reduced sleep quality(r=.20, P=.068). Similarly, analysis by sex revealed no correlation in sleep quality (femalesr=.22, p=.131, males r=.18, P=.276). College athletes who spent more time on social media thanthe mean of 4.6 hrs/day demonstrated worse sleep quality (51.0±8.1 vs. 47.8±7.6, p=.130,Cohen’s d=.41). When stratified by sex this finding held true for female athletes but not for maleathletes (53.2±8.5 vs. 49.1±8.3, P=.186, Cohen’s d=.49, and, 46.3±6.6 vs. 47.6±6.5, P=.505,Cohen’s d=.20, respectively). CONCLUSION: Female college athletes use social media morethan male college athletes. Social media use appears to have a negative impact on sleep qualityamong female college athletes, although more research is needed to explore this. These findingsmay have implications for developing social media use guidelines for college athletes to improvetheir sleep quality.