Teen Cell Phone Use and Sleep

Well, if I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times from the scientific community:  "correlation does not imply causation."

If the study is trying to suggest that the teens' excessive use of the cell phone is causing their sleep problems, that would be a stretch of logic of Herculean proportions.  It could, however, be argued that excessive cell phone use is a symptom of another disorder.  For example, a teen with ADHD might be fixated on rapidly texting others as a way to engage his racing brain.  A depressed teen might use it as a lifeline to reinforce social bonds. A teen with OCD might text her friends incessantly because she has a compulsion to repeat the behavior.  All of those disorders can have sleep disturbances as a feature. 

I think the main point that this article fails to mention is that there is no statistically or scientifically valid link that has been proven to exist between cell phone use and altered sleep patterns. It's an interesting correlation based on a small sample, but hardly conclusive. Even if the numbers bear out over thousands of participants, it still does not imply that the phone is the cause.  The overuse of the phone may be just another symptom of an underlying problem, just like the sleep disturbances may be. The author's closing comment does remind readers that it was a small sample, but it ends with a curiously alarmist statement:  "it keeps us parents aware of the implications excessive cell phone use can bring."  Yes, excessive cell phone use could be an indicator of an underlying problem, but the implications may also just be an inflated cell phone bill and a kid with sore thumbs from texting. I'd hate for someone to read this article and say, "Aha! I always knew that cell phones are dangerous. Now they have been proven to alter sleep patterns!"

Always remember -- just because someone exhibits Symptom A and Symptom B, it does NOT mean that Symptom B was caused by Symptom A.  Correlation does NOT mean causation.

Thanks for your post Beth.  Here are a few links from our site to other post relating to this topic.

Sleep Disorders - Excessive Cell Phone Use Could Affect Your Sleep

Teens: Turn Off Your Cell Phone and Go to Sleep

Cell phones might interfere with sleep

Teens' Cell Talk at Night Can Be Tiring

Technology and Sleep Disorders

Hope this helps and all the best, sue