Binge Watching Linked to Poorer Sleep

Binge watching is associated with poorer sleep quality, fatigue, and symptoms of insomnia, according to the findings of a recent study.

The study included 423 adults between 18 and 25 years of age (61.9% were female) who completed an online survey that assessed their regular television viewing and binge viewing habits, as well as their sleep quality, fatigue, symptoms of insomnia, and pre-sleep arousal.
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Overall, 80.6% of participants identified themselves as binge watchers, of whom 39.6% reported binge watching once in the month preceding the study, 28.4% reported binge watching a few times, 11.7% reported binge watching once a week, 13.5% reported binge watching a few times a week, and 6.7% reported binge watching almost every day in the month preceding the study.

Poor sleep quality was identified in 37.4% of responders.

Those who binge watched reported more fatigue and poorer sleep quality compared with responders who never binge watched. While higher binge watching frequency was associated with poor sleep quality, increased fatigue, and more symptoms of insomnia, regular television viewing was not.

In addition, analyses showed that those who identified as binge watchers had a 98% increased likelihood of experiencing poor sleep quality compared with those who did not identify as a binge watcher. Cognitive pre-sleep arousal mediated these relationships.

“New viewing styles such as binge viewing are increasingly prevalent and may pose a threat to sleep,” the researchers concluded. “Increased cognitive arousal functions as the mechanism explaining these effects. Measures of media exposure should take into account the user's level of engagement with media.”

“Interventions aimed at (1) alerting viewers about excessive viewing duration and (2) reducing arousal before sleep may be useful ways to tackle sleep problems in binge viewers.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Exelmans L, Van den Bulck J. Binge viewing, sleep, and the role of pre-sleep. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(8):1001–1008. http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6704.