Your phone's 'Night Shift' doesn't help you sleep better, new study says
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Phone use right before bed is keeping young adults up at night — dark mode or not.
Researchers at Brigham Young University wanted to find out whether the "Night Shift" option, touted as a way to improve sleep by cutting blue light emissions from your phone, really did what was promised.
They studied a sample of young adults ages 18 to 24, and found that the blue light filter didn't make much of a difference, likely because it's not blue light alone that creates difficulty sleeping.
A combination of factors like texting and scrolling through social media have a psychological impact that makes it harder to sleep, according to BYU.
Night Shift is not superior to using your phone without Night Shift or even using no phone at all," said BYU psychology professor Chad Jensen, who led the study.
The study participants were divided into three groups. One group used their phone before bed without night shift, one group used their phone before bed with night shift, and one group didn't use their phone before bed at all. There was no significant difference between the two groups who used their phones before bed, but those who didn't use their phones got better sleep quality compared with the people who did.
Jensen and his fellow researchers concluded that blue light isn't the only reason people who use their phones before bed don't sleep as well. He says there are other psychological factors at play that should be considered.
