Donjuan 1

Domenic Donjuan

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302 223

3 February 2023

The Effects Nighttime Phone Usage Has on Sleep

Introduction

All types of different electronic devices come with a screen nowadays. Whether it is large

or small, every screen emits blue light. Since people use devices almost all day, it can affect

various important health components, especially their nighttime sleep quality. According to

Osama Abd Alreheem Mahmoud, “sleeping is the optimum method for people to rest”

(Mahmoud, et al. 1). When a person looks at light late in the evening, it can “[lead them] to

[have] phase delays,” meaning that their sleep schedule will become messed up (Zerbini, et al.

2356). A phase delay is when a person’s body clock gets set off track, so they get mixed up

about when to go to sleep and/or wake up in the morning. Not only will blue light exposure at

night cause a person to have less sleeping time, but it can also lead to “increased incidence of

obesity, diabetes, sleep, psychiatric, and cardiovascular disorders and cancers” (Krishnan, et al.

1). This investigation was run to determine how using and not using a smartphone before going

to bed affected a person’s sleep quality. A student from Texas A&M International University

volunteered to slightly alter their normal sleep schedule to gather data for this experiment.

Methods

This investigation happened over a course of four days, beginning on a Friday night,

extending all the way to Monday morning. There were a total of three materials that were used

for this study. The first object that was used in this investigation was the subject’s iPhone XR. It
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was the device that was used every night before going to the set time to go to sleep that allowed

for the subject’s eyes to be exposed to blue light. The second object that was necessary for this

study was an alarm clock to ensure that the subject got an equal amount of sleeping hours

throughout the three nights. On the first night, a Friday, the alarm clock rang at 10:00 P.M.,

telling the subject to power off their iPhone and get ready to go to sleep in thirty minutes. During

that time frame, the subject prepared to wind down for sleep by reading a book. They did not use

their phone or any other device that emits blue light until the alarm clock went off again at 10:30

P.M., the set time to go to sleep. The subject went to sleep on their back, facing directly to the

ceiling above them. Upon waking up Saturday morning to the alarm clock at 8:00 A.M., the

subject rated their sleep quality from the night on a scale of one to ten and mentioned if they

were well-rested as well as noting any other feelings. On the second night, Saturday, the alarm

clock only went off at 10:30 P.M., reminding the subject that it was time to head to bed. The

subject continued being exposed to blue light until that time and then instantly turned all the

devices and lights off and went to sleep when the alarm clock rang. Again, they slept facing

upward, right towards the ceiling. Like the day before, the subject once again rated their quality

of sleep for the night and how they felt when they woke up at 8:00 in the morning. The final

night of this study consisted of the subject using the third material—blue light filtering glasses.

These blue light filtering glasses were put on at 9:00 P.M. by the subject, an hour and a half

before the set time to go to sleep. The subject wore these glasses while continuing to use their

iPhone all the way until the set time to go to sleep. Finally, with the alarm clock ringing at 10:30

P.M., the subject powered off the phone, took off the blue light filtering glasses, and went

straight to bed—facing straight up at the blank ceiling. They once again took note of their sleep
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quality and mentioned any other feelings when they woke up at 8:00 in the morning. The

experiment was finally concluded.

Results

When the subject woke up at 8:00 the morning after the first night of the investigation—

where they did not use their cell phone thirty minutes before going to sleep—they rated their

sleep quality almost perfect, coming in at a nine out of ten. The subject woke up feeling well

rested and did not have any other conditions, such as a headache. Upon going to sleep on that

first night, the subject mentioned that they felt relaxed and that their body was able to wind down

very easily. They had no issues during the night, such as having a hard time falling asleep or

waking up in the middle of the night. After the second night of the experiment, where the subject

utilized their cell phone until the set time to go to sleep, they rated their sleep quality much

worse than the previous night—a five out of ten. The subject did not feel like they were well

rested. Additionally, they woke up with a slight headache, felt like they wanted to go right back

to sleep, and had eye strain. They noted that it was not easy to fall asleep right after using their

phone—it was like their brain was wide awake and was refusing to go to sleep initially. After

some time, the subject was finally able to go to sleep, but not at the ease they were able to do so

from the night before. They also noted that they woke up randomly in the middle of the night and

had a hard time falling back asleep. After the third and final night of the experiment, where the

subject wore blue light filtering glasses while using their phone, they reported that their quality

of sleep did not improve much from the previous night. They rated their sleep quality a six out of

ten. Like the day before, the subject did not feel like they were well rested. They had once again

wakened up with a slight headache, some eye strain, and feeling like they wanted to get more

rest. The subject mentioned that although they did feel as if their brain was wide awake upon
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initially trying to go to sleep, it did take less time for them to fall asleep compared to the night

before, however, it was still not as easy to do so like it was on the first night of the experiment.

They also woke up randomly in the middle of the night and found it hard to fall back asleep

again.

Discussion

After running this experiment for three nights in a row and comparing the volunteer’s

results, it has been determined that putting away any devices that emit blue light at least thirty

minutes before going to sleep allows for a person to have the highest sleep quality possible. They

are able to fall asleep quickly and calmly as a result of them not looking at the blue light emitting

screen so late in the night. They wake up the next morning feeling well rested and do not have

any other body parts that ache or hurt. As discovered on the second and third nights of this

experiment, usage of a cell phone right before going to bed “worsens sleep quality,” even if a

person is wearing blue light filtering glasses (Sinha, et al. 383). A person is much more likely to

experience waking up in the middle of the night and have a hard time going back to sleep if they

use their phone before going to bed. Repeated emission of blue light to a person’s eyes so late at

night could eventually result in “[s]leep disorders, reflecting psychosocial problems, depression,

and anxiety-phobic disorders” (Mahmoud, et al. 5). Although not tested or noted in this

experiment, “lying posture while using the smartphone” before going to sleep could have been

one of the influences on why the volunteer did not have a good sleep on the second or third night

of the investigation (Krishnan, et al. 3). All in all, people should begin minimizing the amount of

time that they spend on their electronic devices at night, as they will discover that doing so can

maximize their quality of sleep.

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Works Cited

Krishnan, Bindu, et al. “Quality of Sleep Among Bedtime Smartphone Users.” International

Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 11, no. 8, Aug. 2020, pp. 1–5. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_266_19.

Mahmoud, Osama Abd Alreheem, et al. “The Association between Internet Addiction and Sleep

Quality among Sohag University Medical Students.” Middle East Current Psychiatry,

vol. 29, no. 1, Mar. 2022, pp. 1–6. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-022-

00191-3.

Sinha, Sanjeev, et al. “A Study on the Effect of Mobile Phone Use on Sleep.” Indian Journal of

Medical Research, vol. 155, no. 3/4, Mar. 2022, pp. 380–86. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2221_21.

Zerbini, Giulia, et al. “Strategies to Decrease Social Jetlag: Reducing Evening Blue Light

Advances Sleep and Melatonin.” European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 51, no. 12,

June 2020, pp. 2355–66. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14293.