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There are no more items in your cartOver 45,000 students took part in a Norwegian study that looked into the adverse effects of telephone use before sleeping. While the results were predictable, they nevertheless provided many insights. This study proves that it is better to stop using screens before going to bed for a number of reasons.
Using your telephone before sleeping: surprising results
The Study
The Norwegian study, which was published in April 2025, in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, looked at students, a population that is particularly prone to telephone use before sleeping. The respondents’ generation coincides with the development of digital devices. They are the young people who have grown up with smartphones, discovering both the opportunities and threats of this great innovation.
The study reminds us that young students are particularly vulnerable to insomnia, potentially caused by telephone use before sleeping, and explains issues such as students’ mental health, their academic success or their welfare more generally.
The experts focused on Norwegian students aged 18 to 28 years. The survey asked the young people about the frequency with which they used screens before sleeping, and their observed sleep problems. These include difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and involuntary morning awakenings.
Predictably, screen usage is detrimental to sleep quality, according to the experts. The study reveals that one hour of telephone exposure before sleeping increases the risk of insomnia by 60% and decreases sleep by around 24 minutes per night. The respondents stated that they experienced insomnia at least three times per week. The experts also looked at the different screens to which the respondents were exposed, and whether their effect was more or less harmful depending on the digital activities carried out.
For example, the students were asked to report their usual digital activities: watching television, surfing social media, browsing the Internet or playing video games. 69% of young people use social media before going to bed. However, the experts did not find a more harmful effect of social media than other activities in the study results, contrary to what one might think.
Harmful effects on sleep
While the experts qualified the causality between the bouts of insomnia observed among the respondents and their night-time screen usage, they did recognise the adverse effects of telephone use before sleeping. The experts consider screens to be sleep disruptors. According to them, four night-time disturbances can be observed:
Firstly, night-time notifications, which are considered to cause undesirable disturbances to sleep. Notifications prevent the mind from disconnecting from the outside world and can leave one subject to anxiety and stress.
Second, the screen time which replaces sleep time. The experts speak of a time lag. This is the time that we dedicate to digital devices that replaces rest time.
Next, digital activities keep our mind in a state of wakefulness. It is impossible to rest, to think for oneself or to meditate and let your thoughts wander. Digital devices are designed to keep our attention, and this is detrimental to sleep quality.
Finally, blue light, a term used increasingly frequently to refer to the light emitted by digital objects. This artificial blue light disrupts our biological clock. Our body is influenced by natural light to prepare itself to fall asleep at night. Our telephone exposure before going to sleep misleads the body and prevents it from helping us to relax.
The experts' recommendations
To better avoid these harmful effects indicated by the experts, they have drawn up several recommendations to optimise our sleep quality. How long before sleeping should you stop using screens? The experts' answer: 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
After having set out the four potential disruptions caused by digital devices, they therefore advise reducing their usage. They talk about a digital curfew. This term refers to a set of practices that allow you to limit the adverse effects of digital devices. Switch your smartphone to airplane mode, turn off the television and stop playing video games and using social media.
In addition, the experts recommend establishing a routine so that the body has good habits in terms of schedules and sleep quality. They advise going to bed at the same time every day, but also getting up at the same time, to optimise our biological clock.
This routine also includes relaxing activities to replace screens. For example, this could be breathing exercises, a little reading or a nice hot bath. Stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine and heavy meals that might be detrimental to sleep should be avoided.
Now you have all the advice you need for a peaceful night’s sleep !
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