Fox News: Just over one-third of study respondents reported an increase in device usage within 2 hours of falling asleep.
A study conducted during Italy’s coronavirus lockdowns last spring suggests increased screen time resulted in sleep disturbances and worsened insomnia symptoms.
Researchers affiliated with University of L’Aquila published findings in the journal Sleep on May 26, drawing from results on 2,123 Italians who responded to web surveys during the third and seventh week of lockdowns in late March and late April, respectively. Most participants were female, and about 60% were aged 18-30. The surveys assessed sleep quality and insomnia symptoms based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Insomnia Severity Index.
“The overuse of electronic devices in the hours before sleep was a deeply rooted habit in our society already before the pandemic emergency, in particular among young people,” Dr. Federico Salfi, Ph.D. student and first author of the paper, said in a release posted to EurekAlert.org on Thursday. “In our opinion, the current period of social distancing added fuel to the fire.”
