Too many hours in front of screens, sleep alarm for children
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The restrictions adopted to counter the Covid-19 pandemic have drastically increased exposure to electronic devices in minors, leading to a sharp increase in sleep disturbances. This is the finding of a study conducted on more than 1,000 children and adolescents and coordinated by the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital together with the University of La Sapienza and that of Tor Vergata. The results were published in the scientific journal Sleep Medicine.
I study
The study was carried out by administering 1,209 questionnaires to parents of children and adolescents aged between 2 and 18 between April and June 2021. Of these, 1084 were then actually used, after discarding those partially completed. The questionnaire was divided into several parts: the registry one, the one on the state of health, the one on the use of electronic devices before and during the pandemic, the specific one to evaluate sleep disorders (Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children).
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The cohort was constructed including a large population range of healthy children and young people aged between 2 and 18 years and consisted of 569 males and 515 females. Of the 1,084 children and teenagers, 6.3% attended nursery schools, 23.5% kindergarten, 39.7% primary, 15.9% secondary, 12.9% schools high school and 1.7% were not yet educated.
The role of the pandemic
The study found that compared to the pre-pandemic period, the increase in time spent in front of a screen involved a total of 68.7% of children and teenagers. Specifically, exposure time more than tripled for school reasons (from just under an hour a day to three and a half hours) and involved 72% of children and teenagers. While for recreational use the use has almost doubled (from one hour and three quarters to three hours) and concerned 49.7% of the subjects.
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Considering only the evening hours (after 6 pm), the increase in exposure time to the devices was observed in 30% of the sample (325 children). It has gone from just 13.7% of children and young people who spent more than two hours in front of screens before Covid to 29.1% (more than double). A particularly significant figure given that the factors most associated with the risk of the onset of sleep disturbance are precisely those relating to the time spent in front of a screen in the evening.
Sleep disturbances increased by 50%
The aim of the study was to verify the increase in the use of electronic devices during the pandemic by studying their effects on the sleep of minors. To assess the presence or absence of sleep disturbances, the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children was used, a special questionnaire consisting of 26 questions that allow for the assessment of sleep habits in children and adolescents. Questions include sleep duration, difficulty falling asleep and waking up, number of times you wake up during the night, restlessness during sleep, etc.
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The study conducted by the doctors of Developmental Neurology and by the researchers of Neurological and Neurosurgical Diseases of the Child Jesus together with colleagues from the University of Sapienza and those of Tor Vergata, demonstrated an increase of over 50% in sleep disturbances compared to the period pre-pandemic. In detail, it went from 240 children and adolescents who already showed sleep disturbances before the start of the pandemic, to 367 during the pandemic: 33.9% of the entire sample, practically one in three minors.
Correlation between devices and disturbances
“The data from the study demonstrated a correlation between the increase in the use of electronic devices during Covid and the increase in sleep disturbances – explains Dr. Romina Moavero of the developmental neurology 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 this only 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 since sleep in this age group is crucial for improving learning, cognitive, academic and even social skills”.
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