Is Bedtime Media Use Good or Bad? A Competitive Analysis Between the Sleep Displacement Hypothesis and the Media Recovery Hypothesis

Abstract

Bedtime media use is often maligned in research and pop culture. However, the evidence for the relationship between bedtime media use and sleep for adults has been mixed – sometimes sleep quality is negatively affected by media use, sometimes it is positively affected. Competing explanations include the sleep displacement hypothesis (i.e. media use leads to later sleep onset, less total sleep, and lower sleep quality) and the media recovery hypothesis (i.e. media use helps reduce stress, and this relaxation helps people fall and stay asleep). Two retrospective diary studies test these competing hypotheses in an undergraduate sample (n = 200) and a general population U.S. adult sample (n = 202). Overall, results provide more support for the sleep displacement hypothesis than for the media recovery hypothesis. However, some evidence suggests potential for positive relationships between media use and sleep. More work is needed to explicate the complicated relationship between bedtime media use and sleep.