A new report from the U. K. says more than 1 in 5 teens there spend five hours or more per day on social media. And the heavier users of social media get to bed later and get poorer quality sleep. The new study was based on self-reported survey data from nearly 12,000 teenage participants in the U. K. Millennium Cohort Study.
Megan Moreno, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin Madison, says social media is too often described as either entirely good or bad, when the reality is more complicated(复杂的) for teens. Social media may have its problems, but it is the way that they stay in touch with each other," she says.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study found a link between high social media usage and poor sleep patterns. Especially, teens who are heavier users of social media go to sleep later. And the researchers note late bedtime is linked with poorer academic and mental health consequences.
Holly Scott, a researcher at the University of Glasgow, isn't sounding the alarm. She says, "It's easy to look at the results of this and think, 'We should just get teenagers to spend less time on social media. 'I think that's an understandable response, but what I really encourage people to do is look beyond that." She says people should pay attention to the important emotional ,cognitive (认知的)and social factors when teenagers are using social media.
Scott stresses that the study is pointing to a connection between social media and poor sleep, but not necessarily explaining cause and effect.
"Certainly some teens do say they struggle to get away from social media at night - they might be worried about missing out on things, or affecting their friends by not answering messages -and they stay up late for that," she says. "As for some of those young people, they have a naturally later body clock and they are passing their free time at night on social media until they're ready to fall asleep."
