Social Media and Sleep: How Screen Time Is Keeping Teens Awake
Three teens lying in bed scrolling on their phones
Sleep is essential, especially for teens navigating growth, change, and life transitions. Yet, despite its importance, many adolescents aren’t getting the recommended amount of rest. Why? Social media use plays a significant role.
Many research teams have delved into the impact of social media on sleep, uncovering trends that show a direct connection between excessive screen time and poor sleep quality.
How Much Sleep Do Teens Need?
The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines spell it out:
Ages 11-13: 9-11 hours per night
Ages 14-17: 8-10 hours per night
Ages 18+: 7-9 hours per night
A study of more than 5,000 Canadian students found that only 36.4% of them were hitting these targets. Yikes. Older teens and boys were even less likely to get enough rest.
So, what’s keeping teens up? You guessed it: social media.
The Connection Between Social Media and Sleep
73.4% of students said they used social media for at least an hour every day, and 16.1% spent a whopping five or more hours scrolling. It’s no surprise that screen time eats into sleep, but the relationship between social media use and poor sleep goes deeper.
It’s not just about lost hours. Research shows that heavy social media use can impact sleep quality too. In one study, teens who felt anxious or stressed when they couldn’t check their feeds reported worse sleep and more mental health struggles. It’s not just about time—it’s about how social media makes them feel.
Woman on her phone in front of a dark window
Why is Social Media Different from General Internet Use?
Unlike general Internet browsing, social media is designed to be interactive and addictive. Notifications, likes, and messages can pop up anytime, even in the middle of the night. A 2010 study found that 86% of teens slept with their phones nearby, often under their pillows, amplifying the impact of notifications on sleep.
Why Can’t Teens Get Enough Sleep?
1. Disrupted Sleep-Wake Cycles:
Ever heard of blue light? It’s the light from screens that disrupts your body’s production of melatonin—the hormone that helps you fall asleep. Late-night scrolling makes it harder to drift off and wake up feeling rested.
2. Emotional Investment & FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Social media is all about connection. But that connection can turn into anxiety. Teens worry they’ll miss important updates if they log off, which keeps them scrolling way past bedtime. This fear can also hurt their mental health.
3. Less Physical Activity: Social media can replace physical activities that promote better sleep. Woods and Scott’s study suggested that teens who were less active physically tended to report poorer sleep quality.
How Teens Can Get More Sleep
The good news? There are ways to reclaim those precious Zs.
Low-tech solutions for more sleep:
Keep phones out of the bedroom. Use a regular alarm clock instead of your phone.
Read or journal before bed. Both are great ways to wind down without screens.
Set a “no devices before bed” rule. Aim for at least 30 minutes of screen-free time before sleep.
High–tech solutions for more sleep:
Try smart alarms and speakers. Use devices like Alexa to play calming music or set alarms.
Turn on Do Not Disturb mode. Set your phone to silence notifications at night while still allowing emergency calls.
How to combat FOMO:
Practice gratitude. Keeping a gratitude journal can shift focus from what’s missing to what’s good in life.
Curate your feed. Mute or unfollow accounts that cause stress and follow the ones that make you happy.
Social media isn’t going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it has to run your life—or your sleep. By setting boundaries and creating healthier habits, teens can take back control. Small changes, like mindful screen use and prioritizing physical activity, can make a big difference.
Sleep tight—and don’t let the endless scroll keep you up!
Study Objective & Methods
#Sleepyteens: Social media use in adolescence is associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem
Heather Cleland Woods, PhD; Holly Scott, PhD
Published in Journal of Adolescence, 2016.
Woods and Scott’s objective was to examine the timing of social media use and the level of emotional investment in social media, as opposed to the daily duration of use, to inform our understanding of the mechanism linking social media and poor sleep. To do this, they examined 467 students aged 11-17 using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a variation of the Social Integration and Emotional Connection subscale of the Social Media Use Integration Scale, and two measures they developed to assess overall social media use and nighttime-specific social media use. Participants aged 11-15 years old completed the questionnaire in class, either on paper or online. Participants aged 15-17 completed the questionnaire online outside of class.
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