People who actively contribute to social networks at night are slightly more likely to have poor mental healthit follows from a new study by researchers from the University of Bristol in England. TASR informs about this according to the reports of the DPA and PA Media agencies.
- Tweeting at night can worsen mental health, according to research.
- The study looked at users of the X network and their activities.
- They analyzed the tweeting of 310 people in the period 2008-2023.
- A night of activity correlates with reduced mental well-being and sleep.
- Social media has different effects according to activity and time.
Experts said most studies on mental health and social media have focused on frequency of social media use. Therefore, they also wanted to find out whether the time in which people surf or contribute to the Internet has an effect on the psychological state.
In the study, they focused on the platform X. The data from this social network was subsequently correlated with data from a long-term study called Children of the 90s (Children of the 90s) monitoring the health of people from the West of England.
About 310 people were included in the research based on their tweeting times and responses to a health questionnaire. A total of 18,288 tweets including retweets published during the period were examined from January 2008 to February 2023 – before the network changed its name to X.
The study found that the mental state of people who tweeted on average between 11pm and 5am at night was slightly worse compared to those who were active during the day. The authors of the study, led by academics from the University of Bristol, said that tweeting at night correlates with a two percent negative difference in mental well-being. They also found out the link between late-night tweeting and depression and anxietybut this association was less noticeable.
The team also emphasized that using social networks at night can disrupt sleep. They added that posting and messaging at night can lead to “cognitive arousal” and blue light from smartphones can suppress the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.
“While social media is often seen as a whole, its impact on mental health depends on the specific activities that users engage in and the experiences they have on these platforms.” added Daniel Joinson, a doctoral student at the mentioned university and the main author of the study.
