Research Suggests Gaming Before Bed Disrupts Sleep

[Berenzen]

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 will agree with you that it wasn't comprehensive, but then again, they targetted a very large population in and of itself- young teenage boys playing violent video games. A better title for the news article is "Research Suggests that fast-paced violent video games before bed disrupts the sleep of teenage boys". But damn is that a long-winded title, it wouldn't exactly bring in as many people. Then again, the word research seems to automatically cause people on this site go batshit raving mad and demand impossible amounts of sample sizes.

However, I will disagree with you that 17 isn't enough. If they got p<0.05, it's good enough, and if they didn't and still claimed it, they wouldn't have gotten accepted into a scientific journal. There's also been similar studies done on adult males [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2005.00463.x/full] in the past.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

This is a lie. Fallout 3, Borderlands, and WoW all put me right to sleep within 45 minutes of gameplay.

 

[Something Amyss]

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.

Yes, but if we're straightforward, how can we further polarise vidya gaemz?

 

[Something Amyss]

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

Science never fails us. Only scientists. Flawed, human scientists.

 

[Strazdas]

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.

your wrong,
i have noticed this long before, that if i go to bed striaght after gaming i have hard time sleeping. so now i stop gaming 2 hours before sleep and watch a movie instead. i sleep like a baby. screen activity does not make you loose sleep. active gaming neds a "cool-off" time, your whole body is tensed when every milisecond matters between wictory and los in a game, and you cant just instantly go to sleep mode after that. movies in not interactible however and thus does not cuase the tension.

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.

well considering that international information organizations think 1000 is more than enough to represent 40 million people country, this is not that bad, buti agree.

I already suspected this, good thing I'm an adult which obviously means I'm not affected...

yes you are

 

[Denamic]

Also, if you play games instead of sleeping, you will lose even more sleep!
Oh science, how you educate us.

 

[KefkaCultist]

Well DUUUUUUH!

This reminds me of a news piece I saw just a year or so ago about a research that getting tackled in football can lead to head injuries... Like, REALLY?! That's what research funding is going towards? Shit we already know and not something like, I dunno, the cure for cancer or something that we DON'T already know!

 

[Lancer873]

In other news, grass grows, birds fly, the sun shines, and the scout hurts people. Your body isn't able to calm itself down that easily so if you go right from an intense anything to relaxing then it'll be harder to relax for a while.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Any exciting activity before bed will keep you up, and gaming is one of them... now how hard was it to figure that one out.

 

[FalloutJack]

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

Science never fails us. Only scientists. Flawed, human scientists.

Since science, the thing we named science and implemented it, the concept is our creation and therefore our responsibility. Ergo, when a scientist fails, the science he was applying has also failed. Nyah!

 

[Guffe]

Tetris or something relaxing.

You compare Tetris to a relaxing game O.O??

On Topic:
Well opposed to all others who said "we already knew this" I'll say it's nice that someone has actually used all the equipment in hand to give actual facts and data on this. Otherwise it's just subjective thoughts, and even if it's been done before with new and better equipment you might actually come to a different conclusion, how often have we not see that happening?!

 

[Aeonknight]

no shit?

Getting off an adrenaline rush from a CoD or BF3 match is going to make it harder to sleep when you finally put the controller/mouse + keyboard away.

 

[Icehearted]

Sleep hygiene is an important issue, but then so is clearing just one more dungeon of dragur. Games may not be good for sleep, but you know what helps? Cuddling! I recommend a good friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or for best results, a dog.

I really miss my dog.

 

[Legion]

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.

Indeed. They have been saying this for years. It's why in the UK they used to keep trying to tell parents not to allow their children to have televisions in their rooms.

Any exciting activity before bed will keep you up, and gaming is one of them... now how hard was it to figure that one out.

I'd change that to say any non-physical exciting activity.

 

[Gabanuka]

Weirdly I agree this time. Two nights ago I played Dishonored before bed and has some VERY off dreams. One very good dream, the rest were fucked up. Plus the game seemed to influence them since it was all first-persony.

 

[Matt King]

yeah but what if you play relaxing games, like sometimes i'll lay a bit of peaceful minecraft before bed?

 

[n19h7m4r3]

Strangely if I study right before bed, I can't sleep.

 

[nodlimax]

If you do something that makes you excited you won't fall asleep - wow big news there.

There are lots of "activities" that will have this effect - not only games

 

[AngloDoom]

As someone who plays videogames, I kind of noticed.

I mean, it's nice to have scientific backing and all, but hasn't exactly blown my socks off.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

It's ANY screen activity that can cause this; video games are more immersive, so there is some(not much mind) legitimacy in the study.

As a teenager, I have been known to scream etc. during sleep (though I couldn't recall) after playing vg's late, but that's just me, and is probably more likely to do with a sensitive/attentive subconscious.

The rest of the study is full of s***; the games that caused me to scream during sleep were DoTA 2 & League of Legends (possibly X-Com Enemy Unknown, but that game is more tense rather than scary)