Research Suggests Gaming Before Bed Disrupts Sleep

[antipunt]

This is something I've suspected for a long time but just secretly hoped my parents would never find out about >_>

but yes the 'sample size' issue that people are mentioning ITT is pretty legit also

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Stop posting this propaganda.

This is Illuminati brainwash.

 

[2xDouble]

I propose a second study. If "video games" are indeed the "worst possible thing to do before bed", as this study "suggests", I propose we perform another study to find out which type, genre, or content of the game is the "worst of the worst" (so to speak). Then, compare the results across the board to this study's results to see if/how other activities compare.

I, for one, tend to sleep better and wake up more energized after playing Pokemon for an hour just before sleep compared to doing nothing, but find it more difficult to reach restful sleep after playing Golden Sun or Final Fantasy... something with a more intense story.

All we need is a massive laboratory with lots of EEG machines, loads of grant money, and a few hundred volunteers. If anybody happens to have any of those, a donation would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Captcha: "It's super delicious". Indeed it shall be, captcha. Indeed, it shall be.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

My psychologist told me that, if I couldn't go to sleep, getting up and doing any hour of something - watching movies, reading a book, playing a videogame - would help make me more tired, so I could then fall asleep quicker.

So I guess your research is gonna contradict the advice of my psychologist, huh? What do you expect me to do now, as a patient? I guess I'll stop taking my brain medicine and <@UEAU3owaahhzhaw2786117 &dwkd& dha72 ffftztztztztz. zzzzzzt. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

 

[lacktheknack]

Uh, duh?

Didn't they previously conclude that "looking at a monitor or TV less than an hour before bed" was bad for your sleep patterns?

Good to see supporting evidence... I... guess?

 

[DugMachine]

This just in, the sky is blue. More at 11.


Seriously we've known this for years lol.

 

[Orekoya]

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What?

 

[Baresark]

No real surprise there. Anything that makes the mind active before bed will keep it going. I do some graphic arts as a hobby, and if I am working before bed all my mind does is race. That is why TV is perfect before bed. Your mind is passive when watching TV. The only time I watch anything on my TV when I'm ready for bed. Now I can't even make it through a whole movie on a Friday night.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I thought it was supposed to be ANY screen activity that's bad to do before bed. Video games would be no exception, I would think.

Oh, studies. You so funny.

That last line made me laugh.

But yeah, it is any screen activity that causes sleep disruption.

To this study: In other news, the sun will rise again and water is wet. Also, explosions are...boomy.

 

[Berenzen]

Interesting...because I totally never knew this before...

The 17 participants played a newly released...

Wait, 17? What a shit number of people that is. Well, let me tell you about MY "study" that took 20 people and we went on a three-day marathon at a LAN party and only 6 of us didn't make the full time. After that everyone got 6 hours of sleep and was ready to go again. This proves that humans don't actually need sleep at all except very sparingly and only for a few hours every other day.

I would like a headline now.

The study, which was conducted by Masters student Daniel King with supervision from child sleep psychologist Dr. Michael Gradisar, included 17 participants.

Ummm, is no one else going to point out how terrible the sample size is?
Because the sample size is nigh on abysmal.
Taking a handful of people is not what constitutes a proper study, you need at least a few hundred to have a certain degree of credibility, more if you're feeling sassy.

The sampling size is terrible.. But playing fast paced shooters that get your adrenaline going immediately before you go sleep is hardly going to help you is it?

Honestly, he didn't even need a sampling size of 17. The guy could have just read an already existing book

The study, which was conducted by Masters student Daniel King with supervision from child sleep psychologist Dr. Michael Gradisar, included 17 participants.

Ummm, is no one else going to point out how terrible the sample size is?
Because the sample size is nigh on abysmal.
Taking a handful of people is not what constitutes a proper study, you need at least a few hundred to have a certain degree of credibility, more if you're feeling sassy.

No, it doesn't matter how large your sample size is as long as you have 95% certainty- where 95% of your test subjects fall in the first standard deviation of what you were testing. While sample size helps, it doesn't necessarily matter in the long run.

Learn how research actually works before you go shitting on it. There is no lab in the world that has the money to get a sample size of hundreds of people, so if you expect that you need a massive sample size to determine something, then you must think that basically every scientific paper put out ever is invalid.

 

[Piorn]

All I know is I get alot of Tetris-effect, but it happens with everything I do before sleeping, not just videogames.

 

[Tony2077]

hmm then why do i sometimes fall asleep in my chair even when playing action games or damn near anything. plus i can sleep in a build where i need ear plugs and its still noisy

 

[NeutralDrow]

This is why the only games I play before bed are visual novels.

 

[Ljs1121]

Makes sense. Any activity that involves continuous exposure to bright light and rapidly moving pictures would disrupt sleep, I'd think.

 

[lunavixen]

Quite a few issues with this study, the sample size was not of a sufficient size to properly determine accurate results that are verifiable, 25-30 would have been a better size for a smaller study as it allows for a greater margin of error, using one gender does not help all adolescents. Also it should have been state what game was being played not just calling it a "fast paced violent game" as there are heaps of those and they span across many genres from shooters to horror and more, the researcher also should have tested other types of video games, puzzler, RPG, platformer etc. to see how the body's REM cycle reacts to various types of games.

TLDR: It seems that the focus of the study was how long games were played, leaving out the factors of type of game, teenage female gamers, using only one type of game etc. Not exactly a totally comprehensive study is it?

 

[Doom972]

They didn't check non-violent games. Did they check violent slow-paced games? Did they compare it to watching TV or reading books/comics?

This isn't a valid research. Nothing to see here. Move along.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

It's ok, just fap before bed. Helps you get to sleep and unblocks the nose.

 

[Overusedname]

Quite a few issues with this study, the sample size was not of a sufficient size to properly determine accurate results that are verifiable, 25-30 would have been a better size for a smaller study as it allows for a greater margin of error, using one gender does not help all adolescents. Also it should have been state what game was being played not just calling it a "fast paced violent game" as there are heaps of those and they span across many genres from shooters to horror and more, the researcher also should have tested other types of video games, puzzler, RPG, platformer etc. to see how the body's REM cycle reacts to various types of games.

TLDR: It seems that the focus of the study was how long games were played, leaving out the factors of type of game, teenage female gamers, using only one type of game etc. Not exactly a totally comprehensive study is it?

I'm here to say I agree with all these concerns, and look damn pretty doing it.

This is a useful example of baseless scientific surveys. 17 people...really? And the argument is silly and overly specific. It's not gaming, it's screen activity. Ta-da~~~

 

[FalloutJack]

That's just a myth. It doesn't have to. It still has more to do with the person than the games being played.

Oh, science, you have failed us again...

 

[Beautiful End]

The way I always saw it was because as a teenager (which was not even 10 years ago), I had waaaaaay more energy. I didn't exactly play games right before going to be; maybe like half an hour or an hour before to bed. I still had trouble sleeping.

Now I'm older and I literally play videogames one second before going to be and sometimes I can't stay awake wile playing, let's say, a shooting game. I wa-- Wait...

"This may not seem like a significant reduction but REM plays an important part in helping us remember content we learned that day,"

Did anyone else thought about blaming REM the bad? ...Am I that old?