Annotated Bibliography


Source 1

Chang, A.-M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2015). Evening use of 

light-emitting eReaders negatively affect sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(4), 1232–1237. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26454261

Change and her team studied the effects of using  light emitting electronic devices for reading and other activities at night on sleep in 2015 as part of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. To study this relationship, they conducted an experiment with 12 healthy young adults, putting them under 2 different conditions. These conditions included using a light emitting technology in a dim room light for 5 evenings straight and using a paper version in dim light for 5 evenings straight as well. Blood work was drawn on the individuals showing less levels of melatonin which helps promote sleep in those using the light emitting technology. Further, it was concluded that this causes problems to the circadian clock because the light coming from these devices increases alertness. This evening alertness can further lead to sleep problems such as insomnia. This text can inform and prove the negative effect technology, which is widely and increasingly used, can have on sleep; thus, showing a relationship between sleep disorders and the use of the technology. It informs the scientific and biological aspect of what is affected in the human body when using technology. I intend to use this information to present the biological effects of technology on sleep, and to question or suggest ideas of improving this situation

Quotes and Terms:

  • “The following morning, however, the results for self-reported sleepiness were reversed, with participants feeling sleepier the morning after reading an LE-eBook the prior evening” (Chang, 2015, p. 1233)
  • “Moreover, the observation that the endogenous circadian melatonin phase was 1.5 h later when reading an LE-eBook compared with reading from a printed book suggests that using a light-emitting device in the hours before bedtime is likely to increase the risk of delayed sleep-phase disorder and sleep onset insomnia, especially among individuals living in society who self-select their bedtimes and wake times” (Chang, 2015, p. 1233)
  • Circadian Clock
  • Melatonin

Source #2

Fuller, C., Lehman, E., Hicks, S., & Novick, M. B. (2017). Bedtime Use of Technology and 

Associated Sleep Problems in Children. Global pediatric health, 4, 2333794X17736972. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X17736972

Fuller and her team of MDs studied the effect of technology on children’s sleep and lifestyle in 2017. The team surveyed a vast amount of parents who parented children aging from 8 to 17 years old about the amount of time spent on technology, when it was used, their attentiveness during the day, quality of sleep and BMI levels. Results showed that children who used technology at night were more tired in the morning than those who did not or used less technology, thus diminishing their quality of sleep. Additionally, the correlation was made that the use of technology created a sedentary lifestyle leading to obesity which was associated with children having trouble sleeping. Further, statistics showed that children who watch 2 to 4 hours of TV were more inattentive than those who did not. The team concludes that technology has a negative impact on children’s quality of life, and recommends making changes to child’s activities and environment. This text shows the relationship between an effect that technology can have on children, and notes the negative effect of technology on sleep. I intend to use this text to further prove the relationship between technology and sleep, make further suggestions about how parents can help their children, how this can lead to sleep disorders, and raise the flaws of conducting a survey experiment in regards to this study.

Quotes and Terms:

  • “Children who used their phone at bedtime compared to those who did not were more likely to be tired in the morning and were less likely to eat breakfast in the morning” (Fuller, 2017).
  • “Overweight and obese children were also more likely than children with a normal BMI to have difficulty falling asleep and were more likely to have trouble staying asleep. Overweight/obese children were also more likely to report morning fatigue and were less likely to eat breakfast in the morning” (Fuller, 2017).
  • “Children that watched between 2 and 4 hours of television were more likely to exhibit inattentive behaviors than those who watched only 0 to 1 hours of television”(Fuller, 2017).


Source 3

Serrano, S., Lee, J. W., Dehom, S., & Tonstad, S. (2014). Association of TV Watching With 

Sleep Problems in a Church-Going Population. Family and Community Health, 37(4), 279–287. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48515390

Serrano and his team of MDs study the association between watching TV and sleep problems as they note that many other studies have shown a correlation between watching TV and using other forms of technologies especially amongst children and adolescents, and their quality of sleep. For their experiment, they focused on a group of people who attend church. The team published this experiment in 2014 after it was done over a period of 4 years, and they asked members of this church questions about their time spent watching tv, the amount of hours of sleep they get, and their quality of sleep in regards to if they have trouble sleeping, how many times they wake up during the night, and if they have trouble going back to sleep. The team also included a vast amount of other control variables such as diet, age, drinking, caffeine use,ethnicity BMI, and exercise habits. Overall, the results of their experiment lead them to conclude that those who watched 2 hours of TV a day often had sleep problems, thus creating a correlation. They note the possibility that having sleep problems could also be the cause of excessive tv watching. This article emphasizes the associations between television, which is a form of technology, and sleep. Additionally, it gives a vast amount of statistical data to support how TV watching is associated with many sleep problems. I intend to use this statistical data to show how lessening tv watching, and technology can help decrease the risk of acquiring a sleep disorder.

Quotes and Terms

  • “Table 2 shows that those who watched TV 2 or more hours per day were more likely to report trouble falling asleep, waking in the middle of the night, and waking early and unable to go back to sleep compared to those who watched TV less than 2 hours per night”                   (Serrano, 2014, p.281). 
  • “Table 5 shows that after adjusting for all control variables watching TV 2 or more hours per day was associated with higher odds of waking early and inability to go back to sleep. Waking early and inability to go back to sleep was also associated with age, vegetarian diet, napping on weekends and short naps on weekdays, and less than 6 hours of sleep/night at baseline” (Serrano, 2014, p.281).
  • “Experimental studies of the effect of limiting the use of TV to im- prove sleep quality may be valuable. Further- more, studying the association of TV watching with onset of chronic diseases associated with sleep problems may be of interest”                        (Serrano, 2014, p.286).

Source 4

Cain, N., & Gradisar, M. (2010). Electronic media use and sleep in school-aged children and 

adolescents: A review. Sleep medicine, 11(8), 735–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2010.02.006

Cain and Gradisar study the negative impact that use of electronic media such as music, texting, video games, and television have on children and adolescents in 2009. The team makes note of how these different types of electronic media uses are leading to children and adolescents going to bed late, and waking up much later, shorter sleep and sleep disorders like sleep anxiety, and paranormais. Also, it is made note that the majority of children have at least one electronic device in their bedroom and many are simply waking out of their sleep just to answer a late night text. Furthermore, Cain and Gradisar further conclude that technology does have a negative impact on sleep specifically in shorter sleeping time and going to bed late, and that as technology increases, the use of it becomes more often, and with bigger screens and more light, melatonin levels are decreasing. This text emphasized the correlation between technology and sleep disorders in children similar to another source that will be used in comparison. It goes into detail within history  and data about how specific forms of electronics are affecting children. I intend to use these examples to support the idea that technology has a negative impact on sleep, especially in children, and suggest ways for improvement as Cain and Gradisar suggest that parenting style could help improve this.

Quotes and Terms

  • “The presence of a computer or electronic gaming console in a child or adolescent’s bedroom has been associ- ated with delayed bedtime, less time in bed, shorter total sleep time, and increased prevalence of disorders of bedtime resistance, delayed sleep onset, sleep anxiety, parasomnias, and sleep-disordered breathing”                                        (Cain, Gradisar, 2010, p. 736)
  • “Furthermore, as television and computer screens become increasingly larger and bright light exposure from screens is considered to influence melatonin production”              (Cain, Gradisar, 2010, p. 740)
  • “For example, in a household where a parent encourages his/ her teenager to go to bed at 10 pm, the delayed adolescent may go to his/her bedroom (but not feel sleepy) and occupy time by using his/her mobile telephone, computer or television until feeling sleepy enough to go to bed several hours later”(Cain, Gradisar, 2010, p. 740)
  • “The National Sleep Foundation found that adolescents who had four or more media devices in their bedrooms got significantly less sleep on both school nights and non-school nights than adoles- cents who had three media devices or less [13]. These adolescents were also more likely to have fallen asleep at school or while doing homework at least a few times per week, felt too tired or sleepy during the day, and more likely to think that they have a sleep problem”(Cain, Gradisar, 2010, p. 736).