Sleep disturbances for one in three minors due to monitors. The Italian study
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One in three minors has developed sleep disturbances due to excessive use of monitors (smartphone, computer, Playstation, etc.), during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is what emerges from an Italian study published on Sleep medicine. (1)
Sleep disturbances and monitors, the study
A systematic review it is based on questionnaires administered between April and June 2021 to the parents of 1.000 minors between the ages of 2 and 18. The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children is a standard questionnaire that includes specific questions such as sleep duration, difficulty falling asleep and waking up, number of times you wake up during the night, restlessness during sleep, etc.
The developmental neurologists of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital and of the La Sapienza and Tor Vergata Universities found that in the observation period in most cases (68,7%) the time spent in front of a screen increased, compared to the pre-pandemic.
Between DAD and entertainment
Distance learning it more than tripled the exposure time to monitors (from just under an hour a day to three and a half hours) and involved 72% of children and teenagers.
Recreational use it almost doubled (from one hour and three quarters to three hours) and involved 49,7% of the subjects.
After 18pm the risk increases
The crucial factor however, it is linked to exposure to the monitor during the evening hours, after 18 pm, when the risk of the onset of sleep disturbances increases.
In the evening hours,
– 30% of the sample (325 subjects) spent more time in front of monitors,
– the share of minors engaged in front of a screen for more than two hours has gone from 13,7% pre-Covid to 29,1% (more than double).
The result
A systematic review shows an increase of more than 50% of sleep disturbances compared to the pre-pandemic period. In detail, it has gone from 240 children and adolescents who were already showing sleep disorders before the start of the pandemic, to 367 during the pandemic: 33,9% of the entire sample, practically one in three minors.
'The study data demonstrated a correlation between the increase in the use of electronic devices during the covid and theincreased sleep disturbances', explains Dr. Romina Moavero of the Neurology of the development of the Child Jesus.
'But there is another very important element. And that is that the lifestyle of children and teenagers has changed profoundly. By now electronic devices are part of their life, both school and social, and this persists even now that we are very far from the pandemic closures.
All of this just underlines the importance of sleep hygiene recommendations which must always be considered the first line of treatment to promote appropriate behaviors to promote good sleep in childhood and adolescence. Especially because sleep in this age group is crucial to improve learning, cognitive, scholastic and even social skills'.
Marta Strinati
Footnotes
(1) Romina Moavero, Valentina Di Micco, Giusy Forte, Alessandra Voci, Luigi Mazzone, Massimiliano Valeriani, Leonardo Emberti Gialloreti, Oliviero Bruni. Screen exposure and sleep: How the COVID-19 pandemic influenced children and adolescents – A questionnaire-based study. Sleep medicine, Volume 107, 2023, Pages 48-54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2023.04.009.
