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Sleep quality is negatively related to video gaming volume in adults
Author(s) -
Exelmans Liese,
Van den Bulck Jan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/jsr.12255
Subject(s) - pittsburgh sleep quality index , bedtime , confidence interval , sleep (system call) , video game , psychology , odds ratio , sleep onset latency , medicine , sleep quality , physical therapy , insomnia , multimedia , psychiatry , computer science , operating system
Summary Most literature on the relationship between video gaming and sleep disturbances has looked at children and adolescents. There is little research on such a relationship in adult samples. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association of video game volume with sleep quality in adults via face‐to‐face interviews using standardized questionnaires. Adults ( n = 844, 56.2% women), aged 18–94 years old, participated in the study. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and gaming volume was assessed by asking the hours of gaming on a regular weekday (Mon–Thurs), Friday and weekend day (Sat–Sun). Adjusting for gender, age, educational level, exercise and perceived stress, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that video gaming volume was a significant predictor of sleep quality ( β = 0.145), fatigue ( β = 0.109), insomnia ( β = 0.120), bedtime ( β = 0.100) and rise time ( β = 0.168). Each additional hour of video gaming per day delayed bedtime by 6.9 min (95% confidence interval 2.0–11.9 min) and rise time by 13.8 min (95% confidence interval 7.8–19.7 min). Attributable risk for having poor sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5) due to gaming >1 h day was 30%. When examining the components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index using multinomial regression analysis (odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals), gaming volume significantly predicted sleep latency, sleep efficiency and use of sleep medication. In general, findings support the conclusion that gaming volume is negatively related to the overall sleep quality of adults, which might be due to underlying mechanisms of screen exposure and arousal.