Study Finds Teens' Late Night Media Use Comes at a Price

[HuckleB]

Source: U.S. News and World Report

Staying up late to play video games, surf the Internet and send phone text messages may lead to learning problems, mood swings, anxiety and depression in children, a pilot study suggests.

The research, conducted at the Sleep Disorders Center at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., found that children who snuck time on their cell phones, computers and other electronic devices after supposedly going to sleep had a greater chance of sleep disorders that cause other difficulties.

"These activities are not sleep-promoting, like reading a novel or listening to music. They stimulate the brain and depress normal sleep cycles," said study author Dr. Peter G. Polos.

His team was scheduled to present the findings Monday at the American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting in Vancouver.

Read more: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/11/01/study-finds-teens-late-night-media-use-comes-at-a-price.html

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Hmm. Does this mean a mild struggle with impulse control turns into a severe case, and the results can lead to other issues? Well, such surmising could go on and on. However, this does seem to be a bit of an issue, and, while evolution may help humans catch up with the technology (lights, tv, computers, smart phones, ... ?) we've created, that's not likely to be something any of us will see, despite the history of evolutionary jumps, etc...

[ensho]

1. its almost insanity to let a teen have a TV, PC, phone, etc. in their

bedrooms at night.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I wonder how much $ was spent on "discovering" something that virtually any parent or teacher could

have attested to.

Edit: ...siblings could have testified too....

[Igel]

3. Lots of reasons.

Sometimes it's good to quantify the data. Most anecdotal data is non-quantified.

Sometimes it's good have the mechanism behind cause and effect elucidated. It's hard to spot the controls used in anecdotal reports.

Sometimes the researchers just can't believe the "little people," known as parents, non-experts, have anything valid to say. Anecdotes? Most people are idiots unless they're properly trained--however well they may think they know their kids, they don't because they can't.

[MineralMan]

5. I couldn't resist this:

[flamingdem]

14. What a bitchin drawing or whatever it is, I hope it's not a photo! nt

[MineralMan]

29. I'm certain it's a photoshop.

I just posted it because "igel" means hedgehog in German, and I thought it was a funny photo.

[HuckleB]

4. Many parents are in denial about it, however.

And many just think "they all do it," and don't think about the possible cognitive and developmental effects.

[TacticalPeek]

6. Nice to know that "reading a novel or listening to music" doesn't stimulate the brain.

Philistines.

[HuckleB]

7. I think you're using one definition of stimulate, and the authors are using another.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Alpha waves v beta waves. nt

[Roland99]

8. File this under the "Well fucking DUH!" category

How many studies does it take to prove common sense?

There was a similar study done not too long ago that said the light from laptops was preventing people from falling asleep.

Another DUH!

[groundloop]

9. Hey, it gives me more ammunition.....

when my kids give me that "well Alexis has a TV in her room" whine. I've got one more piece of data to come back at them over and above the old standy, "well maybe Alexis' parents can adopt you and then you too can have a TV in your room.

[HuckleB]

10. +1

:evilgrin: B-)

[ensho]

30. had to laugh - one of my boys would complain about me and I would say

well tell me what mother you would rather have and I'll give her a call and see if you can live with her. I'll give her money for your support. he never came up with a name.

[Meatball]

11. Just staying up late does this stuff.

You can take the "video games, surf the Internet and send phone text messages" bit out of it. It doesn't matter what they are doing to keep themselves up at night. If a kid wants to stay up, they'll stay up. Lack of sleep leads to lack of focus. Also doesn't have to be a teen, anyone who stays up all night doing whatever will have a hard time learning in the morning and will probably be a bit cranky too.

IME anxiety and depression may be contributing to the cause of staying up late, not the effect of it. I know because i was like that, anxious and depressed, even before i started playing video games, I used to stay up late playing guitar, sometimes all night. I played computer games constantly in college. Sometimes my gaming sessions would go well over 24 hours with only short breaks for cigarettes, food, bathroom, etc... When i was younger though, I didn't have any games to keep me up (wasn't allowed) and was depressed and had alot of anxiety in social situations anyway. I found solace in the internet, and still do. Anyways, whether i was doing one thing or the other, i was always half asleep walking through the halls and sleeping in class, a total slacker. I wouldn't blame the games or the music though, I'd blame myself. I hated day to day life, and enjoyed my life outside of school tremendously. So much so that I tried to extend my day to compensate.

[nolabear]

12. In other news, water discovered to be wet.

Sadly, the lure is so strong and so many parents are afraid to set reasonable limits that they are letting their children decide far too young what is healthy for them and what is not. Immaturity is just that--a lack of ability to make mature decisions.

[progressoid]

13. What about adults that do that?

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. We wind up getting yelled at by the boss. nt

[Odin2005]

15. I have an idea, why don't we start school later so teens can get some sleep?

Teens play games so late because many have trouble falling asleep that early.

[Dappleganger]

17. That's what our high school began doing three years ago.

Their FCAT scores went up and overall everyone is much happier.

[HuckleB]

21. It's hard to fall asleep when you're playing video games and texting the night away.

These "studies" that claim teenagers have a harder time getting to sleep don't seem to address what the basics of their sleep hygiene are, and thus I have a hard time buying them. Further, they don't take technology into context. Lighting, in and of itself, is not something we are used to from an evolutionary standpoint, for example.

Further, other studies have shown that teens can live with bed times, and they do better when they have them.

Late-night teens 'face greater depression risk'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8435955.stm

[Dappleganger]

19. Geez, they used to complain about teens staying up late watching tv and listening to heavy metal.

Guess they moved on to something else, LOL!

Our kids do it all, PLUS they read and socialize like crazy, work and have the occasional family meal. AND do well in school.

[HuckleB]

20. You're lucky.

I see plenty of kids who are falling apart, and a big part of it is a lack of sleep. Unfortunately, most of them can't imagine giving up their phones, or video games, in order to keep their brains together, and their parents aren't willing to do much either, for the most part.

But they want therapists and psychiatrists to "fix them." Something is not quite right with this equation.

[Dappleganger]

22. One thing we did do...

we took team sports out of the equation as well as organized church. They do fun athletic stuff on their own or with us as a family and get to really sleep in on the weekends while their friends are being dragged from one event or service to another. Teens can go and go but then they have to re-charge sometime and many families just don't understand what weekends are really for.

[HuckleB]

23. Organized sports were not something that happened on weekends when I grew up.

We had the odd soccer game, now and then, but not every Saturday, like it is now. The demands for practices and competitions/games is far beyond what it was back then, and the studies that are now showing more and more chronic injuries in kids seem to be showing how bad of an idea that is. Our state's high school athletics association is very proud of itself, because it made a rule stating that, for one week each summer, no one could practice with a coach. That doesn't mean they don't practice, of course. The commitment is ludicrous, and so few people seem to recognize it.

Anyway, I agree.

[Dappleganger]

28. We did our time on the soccer and football fields

even a couple years of Pop Warner, and that really turned us off. These kids have to not only get up early on Saturday morning but often go till early afternoon. They are now doing Sunday practices here! It's not the religious thing so much that it used to be that nobody did any sports practices on Sunday but now they do.

The physical therapy group I see is the exclusive trainer for our kids' high school and you wouldn't believe the amount of activity they get. I was told that kids are coming in regularly with stress fractures from 2nd/3rd grade on.

When I was in school I did play 3 seasons of sports (and now really pay for it), but it was only during the school week and just a couple of weeks before school started our b-ball season would begin.

[ensho]

31. me too, only let my boys do school sports not any other kind

they managed to round up kids to do sports in the neighborhood without any adults butting in

[Exultant Democracy]

24. Reading isn't sleep promoting for everyone. In my family it is probably the #1 cause of sleep loss.

[HuckleB]

25. Indeed.

It can keep some people up.

[supernova]

26. Depends on the reading material

I try not to read or watch anything taxing or worrying like the news or DU in the hour before bed. Sorry. :P I try to find something either very boring or lighthearted to go to sleep with.

[HuckleB]

27. Physics textbooks tend to work well, for me.