‘Imperfect data’
But the study author thinks other factors should be considered.
“Focusing on bedtime routines and regular patterns of sleep, such as consistent wake-up times, are much more effective strategies for helping young people sleep than thinking screens themselves play a significant role,” said study author Prof Andrew Przbylski.
Prof Przbylski told the BBC that many of the studies suggesting links between screen time and lack of sleep had very small sample sizes and need “much larger studies” to find conclusive evidence of a problem.
“Because the effects of screens are so modest, it is possible that many studies with smaller sample sizes could be false positives – results that support an effect that in reality does not exist,” he said.
He acknowledged that the data used in the study was “imperfect” because it relied on reports from parents. A further study into the time that children turn off their devices before bedtime will be published shortly.
Many of the large technology firms, including Apple, Google and Facebook, have introduced dashboards allowing people to keep a check on the amount of time they spend on screens.
Some leading technology executives have banned their own children from using devices.
The late Apple chief Steve Jobs’s young children were notably not allowed iPads.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates banned phones until his children were teenagers.
And Tim Cook, Apple’s current leader, has said he would not let his nephew join social networks.
One UK GP, Rangan Chatterjee, said the Oxford University study was “welcome” but that he did not plan to change his advice to parents, which was to turn off devices an hour before bedtime.
“The more research on this area, the better because screens are here to stay,” he told the BBC.
“But the findings don’t replicate what I see in clinical practice which is that the use of screens right before bed has a significant impact on the quality of sleep.”
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