Impacts of Backlit Devices on Teenagers

A new study shows that teenagers are more susceptible to impacts from use of backlit devices such as laptops and smartphones. The results of the study were published in the SAGE journal by the Lighting Research Center. 

If you know any teenagers - you already know that they are addicted to their phones. Actually, I should clarify that teenagers are probably just more addicted to their smartphones than everyone else. 

Before going onto the results of the Lighting Research Center it should be noted that smartphone usage among teenagers today is extraordinarily high. An alternate study conducted by Norwegian researchers on 10,000 adolescents between ages of 16 - 19 found that almost every single one of them used either a smartphone or laptop in the last hour before bed. (The duration of usage was not recorded). 

Now consider the recent study published by the Lighting Research Center. This study looked at the potential suppression of melatonin in adolescents between the ages of 15 - 17 in the home environment. Adolescents were exposed to phones for either a 1 hour or 2 hour period before sleep. Measured melatonin levels were reduced by approximately 23% and 38% from baseline levels respectively.  

Significance of Device Usage and Melatonin Suppression 

Taken together, the results of the studies have wide implications.Considering that almost all teenagers check their phone an hour before bed and doing so likely suppresses melatonin to some degree it is likely that the quality and or quantity of the sleep that adolescents get is being negatively impacted. Furthermore, teenagers are typically woken up earlier than they would like for school. If their sleep quality or quantity has been negatively affected due to phone usage the night before, it will probably impact their daytime alertness and concentration levels.  

So what can concerned parents do about the problem?

Telling a teenager to 'not use a phone at night' will be met with laughter. Perhaps the use of applications which dim the colour temperature (such as f.lux) could be given more serious consideration. Another handy solution could be a blue-screen cover which can be cheaply ordered on Amazon.