Social Media Use, Sleep, and Affect in Young Adults (1 CE)

This course is for: Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and Marriage & Family Therapists 

Course By: Ken Springer, Ph.D. and Kristin Ceppaluni, LMHC 

Content By: Das-Friebel, A., Lenneis, A., Realo, A., Sanborn, A., Tang, N. K. Y., Wolke, D., von Mühlenen, A., & Lemola, S. (2020). Bedtime social media use, sleep, and affective wellbeing in young adults: An experience sampling study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(10), 1138-1149. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13326 

Course Description: Excessive social media use has been linked to impaired sleep and mental health, but the relationships among these variables are not fully clear owing to reliance on cross-sectional designs in prior research. The present study used an experience sampling method to determine whether bedtime social media use influences sleep quality and whether sleep quality, in turn, influences positive and negative affect the following day. Undergraduate participants used a smartphone app for 14 consecutive days that prompted them six times per day to record their social media use and affect. Sleep quality was recorded by means of responses to a prompt as well as an actigraph worn each night during the study. Unexpectedly, the researchers found that bedtime social media use was not predictive of either quality of sleep or affect the following day. Only subjective sleep satisfaction was associated with positive and negative affect during the day. The results suggest that bedtime social media use might not undermine sleep and affective well-being to the extent indicated by prior research. 

Learning Objectives:  

1. Understand the rationale for the study as well as the methods used to gather data on social media use, sleep, and affect 
2. Contrast the expected versus actual findings with respect to the influence of bedtime social media use 
3. Integrate the strengths and limitations of the study, and summarize the implications for recommendations concerning social media use 

Course Outline:  

• Read and understand Bedtime social media use, sleep, and affective wellbeing in young adults: An experience sampling study  
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives 
• Understand the rationale for using an experience sampling method to determine whether bedtime social media use influences sleep quality and affective well-being 
• Understand the methods used to measure social media use, sleep quality, and positive and negative affect 
• Analyze the evidence that bedtime social media use did not influence sleep quality or affect 

• Analyze the relationships found between sleep satisfaction and affect 
• Integrate the study's key findings, strengths, limitations, and practical implications 
• Work through the post-test questions, using the article as the sole basis for your answers 
• Revisit the article for any missed questions and/or to better understand the evidence that  bedtime social media use may not impair sleep or affective well-being 

Approvals: