Daily Electronic Media Use and Sleep in Late Life

Daily electronic media use, including television viewing and computer use, is common in older adulthood. Yet, increased electronic media usage may disrupt nightly sleep, leading to sleeping fewer hours and more sleep disruptions. The current study examined these relationships in older adulthood, as well as the potential buffering effect of having a regular sleep schedule.

Older adults (N = 273) from the Daily Experiences and Well-Being Study (DEWS) completed 5-6 days of data collection where they answered questions at the beginning of the day about the previous night's sleep as well as questions throughout the day about daily electronic media use. They also wore Actical accelerometers to capture sleep regularity.

Older adults reported sleeping fewer hours and having more sleep disturbances on days when they reported more instances of computer use. Sleep regularity moderated the daily association between TV viewing and sleep disturbances such that daily TV viewing was associated with more sleep complaints only for older adults who had less regular sleep patterns. However, sleep regularity no longer moderated this association when accounting for napping behavior.

These findings provide evidence that older adults sleep worse after days when they engage in more electronic media use. The association with TV viewing with sleep disturbances on any given day is somewhat mitigated by engaging in regular sleep patterns. Researchers discuss the importance of assessing electronic media use and sleep in daily life as the role of sleep regularity may be a modifiable protective factor.