Binge-watching leads to poor sleep quality: study

CHICAGO, Aug. 16– Research conducted by the University of
Michigan (UM) and the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research in
Belgium found that higher binge-viewing frequency leads to poorer sleep
quality,
more fatigue and increased insomnia.

Regular TV viewing does not have this problem, the research concluded.
Researchers surveyed 423 adults between the ages of 18 to 25 in February
2016, asking about their sleep quality, fatigue and insomnia, as well as
the frequency of binge watching programs on a TV, laptop or desktop
computer for the last month. Some 81 percent of the respondents reported
that they had binge-watched. Of this group, nearly 40 percent did it once
during the month preceding the study, while 28 percent said they did it a
few times. About 7 percent had binge-viewed almost every day during the
preceding month. Men binge-watched less frequently than women, but the
viewing session nearly doubled that of women.

Respondents indicated they slept seven hours and 37 minutes on average,
and those who binge-viewed reported more fatigue and poor sleep quality
compared to those who didn’t binge-watch. Liese Exelmans, the study’s lead
author and a researcher at the Leuven School for Mass Communication
Research, said people might sleep an appropriate amount of time, seven to
nine hours for adults, but the quality is not always good. The study
showed that increased cognitive arousal prior to sleep is the mechanism
explaining the effects of binge viewing on sleep quality. After
binge-watching TV shows, one usually has a racing heart or one that beats
irregularly, and is mentally alert. This can create arousal, which in turn
prolongs sleep onset and leads to poor sleep quality. “Our study signals
that binge viewing is prevalent in young adults and that may be harmful to
their sleep,” said co-author Jan Van den Bulck, communication studies
professor at UM.Sleep insufficiency has been connected to physical and
mental health consequences, including reduced memory function and learning
ability, obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.- XINHUA