According to this Bloomberg Businessweek article using electronics before bed may hamper sleep.
Is it true that using a computer, watching T.V. or using some other type of face-to-screen electronics before going to bed causes people to have trouble sleeping?
This is evidence showing that using face-to-screen electronics before going to bed could harm your sleep.
For instance, this study, published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that smartphone use after 9 p.m. was associated with decreased sleep quantity at night. Moreover, researchers also examined the use of other electronics -- such as desktop or laptop computers, tablets and TV -- and found similar results
Another study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), found that:
iPad readers had reduced secretion of melatonin, a hormone which normally rises in the evening and plays a role in inducing sleepiness".
A 2008 study funded by major mobile manufacturers showed that people exposed to mobile radiation took more time to fall asleep and spent less time in deep sleep.
Another study found that screen time before sleeping hurts sleeping cycle in young people, and concluded:
Screen sedentary time dominated the presleep period in this sample and was associated with a later sleep onset. The development of interventions to reduce screen-based behaviors in the presleep period may promote earlier sleep onset and ultimately improved sleep duration in young people.
Another study called ICT use and mental health in young adults found that:
Intensive computer use (“intensive” in terms of duration of use or continuous use without breaks) was a prospective risk factor for reporting sleep disturbances in the men and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression in the women.
To make the evidence definitive, a study published in nature Perspective: Casting light on sleep deficiency found that:
The use of electric lights at night is disrupting the sleep of more and more people.
A Harvard report examined some research and confirmed that reading light-emitting e-books before bed, like computer tablets, could have a detrimental effect on sleep, which can in turn lead to serious health problems:
During the two-week inpatient study, twelve participants read digital books on an iPad for four hours before bedtime each night for five consecutive nights. This was repeated with printed books. The order was randomized with some reading on the iPad first and others reading the printed book first. Participants reading on the iPad took longer to fall asleep, were less sleepy in the evening and spent less time in REM sleep. They had reduced secretion of melatonin, a hormone that normally rises in the evening and plays a role in inducing sleepiness. Additionally, iPad readers had a delayed circadian rhythm, indicated by melatonin levels, of more than an hour. Participants who read on the iPad were less sleepy before bedtime but were sleepier and less alert the following morning after eight hours of sleep. Although iPads were used in this study, researchers also measured other devices that emit blue light, including eReaders, laptops, cell phones and LED monitors.
