“Using digital media or sleeping … that is the question”. A meta-analysis on digital media use and unhealthy sleep in adolescence

Abstract

This systematic review with meta-analysis aims to examine the relation between different aspects of digital media use and sleep health patterns. Eligible studies had to be longitudinal and with adolescents' sample. Multiple search strategies were applied until January 28, 2023 in order to identify relevant research published in peer-reviewed journal articles or available grey literature. A final set of 23 studies (N = 116,431; 53.2% female; Mage at baseline = 13.4 years) were included. The quality of the studies, assessed with an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, was high with a consequent low risk of bias. Meta–analytic results showed that traditional media use (r = −0.33 [-0.44; −0.22]), social media use (r = −0.12 [-0.22; −0.01]), prolonged use (r = −0.06 [-0.11; −0.01]), and dysfunctional use (r = −0.19 [-0.29; −0.09]) are negatively related to adolescents’ sleep health at a later time point. Conversely, sleep patterns were not related to social media use (r = −.05 [-0.10; 0.00]) and utilization time (r = −0.13 [-0.30; 0.04]), but they were related to dysfunctional use of media (r = −0.22 [-0.33; −0.10]). Overall, this review highlights the presence of a vicious cycle between digital media use and sleep health in adolescence.