title: Single night video-game use leads to sleep loss and attention deficits in older adolescents.
abstract: The present study investigated adolescent video-game use prior to bedtime and subsequent sleep, working memory and sustained attention performance. Participants were 21 healthy, good-sleeping adolescents (16 male) aged between 15 and 20 years (M = 17.6 years, SD = 1.8). Time spent video-gaming and subsequent sleep was measured across one night in the sleep laboratory. There were significant correlations between time spent video-gaming and sleep and between video-gaming and sustained attention, but not working memory. Sleep duration, in turn, had a significant negative association with sustained attention performance. Mediation analyses revealed that the relationship between video-gaming and sustained attention was fully mediated by sleep duration. These results indicate that video-gaming affected the ability to sustain attention only in as much as it affected sleep. In order to minimise negative consequences of video-game playing, video-games should be used in moderation, avoiding use close to the sleep period, to obviate detriments to sleep and performance.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
authors.forename: Jasper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Australia.
authors.forename: Kellyann
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Australia.
authors.forename: Ashleigh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Australia.
authors.forename: Chelsea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gradisar
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. Electronic address: michelle.short@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Short
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D012890:Sleep; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D018910:Video Games / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognition; Memory; Sleep; Technology; Video-gaming; Youth