Researchers then sorted teens into four groups based on their daily social media use: “low users” spent less than one hour (34%); “average users” spent one to three hours (32%); “high users” spent three to five hours (14%); and “very high users” spent more than five hours (21%).

Study participants were also asked to report on their typical sleep habits including sleep and wake times, how long it took them to fall asleep, and whether they had difficult falling back asleep if they woke up during the night.

The findings showed that heavier social media use was associated with poorer sleep patterns. Specifically, “very high” social media users were 70% more likely to fall asleep after 11pm on weekdays and after midnight on weekends compared to “average” users. What’s more, they also reported having more trouble getting back to sleep after waking during the night. Both “high” and “very high” users reported typically waking up after 8am on school days, whereas average users were more likely to rise earlier.

Losing sleep? It could be down to the way you’re using social media