The paper cites the now well-known theory that light in the blue spectrum, such as that produced by electronics, “can suppress production of melatonin leading to decreased drowsiness, difficulty initiating sleep, and non-restorative sleep”. It also points out that the kind of activites we engage in on our phones and tablets likely stimulates our minds instead of relaxing us.

Co-author Gregory Marcus, of the University of California, said that the subgroup of 136 people revealed that on average, every extra minute spent on a phone was linked to a decrease in sleep of approximately five minutes.

And, as theguardian.com reports, for the 56 people analysed for time spent on their phones at bedtime, on average every extra minute on a phone was linked to an added minute and a half to fall asleep.

Marcus said: “I am a big fan of technology and think technology can help us solve many problems.

“However, I think that this suggests that we need to think carefully about how to optimise the use of that technology and understand the consequences of that use.”

Better not be reading this in bed…

Images: iStock

Your bad night's sleep could be down to your phone