On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the sweet snuffling sounds of a passed out toddler at 8pm. 10 being the itchy eyeballs headachy sweat of your kid still being awake (and possibly in your bed) at 3am on a random Tuesday. How are you feeling about screen time at bedtime for your PDA kid?
Then we add summer. The lack of daily routines to the mix and you may be yelling “12!” at your screen right now. I really hope it’s not 3am.
Let’s break down the myths, the facts, and the hacks so you can maybe be awake at work tomorrow. For real. This is part one of a 3 part post about sleep problems.
Let’s get into the actual, real science.
I did actually read all the articles I’m citing here. I also checked them out for generally decent design. I’m a total research design snob. That means what I’m claiming here has been vetted, at least by me.
First up: Screens, blue light, and sleep hormones
Way back in the year 1985, a study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21164152/) claimed that blue light, such as that emitted by LED light, had a potential negative effect on the production of melatonin, a key sleep hormone. This study was completed on EIGHT ASTRONAUTS. Eight astronauts is hardly a broad population, but the thing had legs and was cited and replicated all over the place for decades. It was, as far as I can tell, the first study on LEDs and human sleep.
Fast forward to the 2010’s, and a whole raft of scholarly publications, books, popular magazine articles, and blogs were claiming that LED screens were the absolute enemy of all sleep. This information was EVERYWHERE. Screens were also everywhere by then. Oprah was pretty sure that LEDs at bedtime were causing lots of us not to sleep (Oprah fixes your sleep).
But how legit are those claims? There are many scientific papers out there stating that blue spectrum light from LED screens has a negative impact on sleep, mostly in adults. There are a few studies about LED light and kids’ sleep as well, but they’re all missing a few key points.
For example, none of the studies I read (and it was a LOT) mentioned whether or not study participants had pre-existing sleep problems. The vast majority simply asked participants about their screen use near bedtime and then correlated that with measures of how long it took them to fall asleep, how well they slept through the night, and how long they slept.
This is a classic case of correlation and causation getting confused, or horse before cart equals not getting to the market anytime real soon.
Most of the studies also found pretty limited impacts of LED light. Sleep onset was generally delayed by about 10 minutes (Frontiers review 2019 ).
Is a 10 minute delay really worth the meltdowns around removing screens?
LED evil and autism:
But how solid is the science, when we look at children? And then if we turn down the microscope another click to kids on the spectrum? Welp. Pretty skinny, as it turns out.
While there is a lot of solid research on sleep problems in people with autism, (Frontiers review 2019),
there is next to nothing about how, specifically, LEDs/screens/blue light might or might not impact people with autism and their sleep cycles.
There is even less solid science around whether or not the demand avoidance struggle around giving up the device makes sleep better or worse, how much time is ok, how long before bed.
Turns out, the LED light as a hugely problematic sleep disruptor may be at best, exaggerated.
As always, if this post strikes a chord and you want to connect more about this topic, please be in touch.
Next time: PDA meets screens meet bedtime
Related: https://drcatherinetucker.com/what-is-pda-and-does-my-kid-have-it/
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