Assessing the contribution of the Index of Nighttime Offline

Distress: an investigation of social media's impact on adolescent

sleep quality

Mairi London, Holly Scott, Heather Cleland-Woods

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science in Brain Sciences
2019-2020

Submitted to the Department of Neuroscience and Psychology

University of Glasgow
10 August, 2020

Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author

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A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study,

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Abstract
Adolescence is characterized by substantial biological, emotional, and, importantly,
social change. This has led to interest into the links between adolescent social media use
and sleep, which is crucial during this developmental phase. In much research, however,
the measures used are inadequate at properly quantifying adolescents’ unique
relationship to social media. The Index of Nighttime Offline Distress (iNOD), conversely,
is a new self-reporting questionnaire that captures why adolescents feel difficulty trying
to engage from social media at night. Scottish adolescents (N>3000) took an online
survey that included the iNOD, as well as other measures of social media use that we
argue fail to capture its unique affordances. To assess if the iNOD is an effective and
relevant measure of social media use, various regression models of the different
measures were built and compared. After analysis of goodness-of-fit and predictor
dominance, we concluded that inclusion of the iNOD does explain more variance in
sleep quality when compared to the other measures on their own. A brief introductory
analysis into the effect of age was also conducted, finding that adolescents of various
ages use social media for different purposes. We hope that our findings help show that
the context of adolescent social media use is important and that there is evident
diversity across the population. To best understand adolescent social media use and its

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impact on sleep, future research and policy should approach this relationship from a
holistic, multifaceted direction, rather than viewing social media as solely a quantifiable
techno-centric activity.

Summary
Technology allows us to be reachable 24/7. For adolescents, this, coupled with their
strong desire to create and maintain social circles, can cause them to prioritize social
media use over healthy sleep habits. While there is much current research investigating
the connection between sleep and social media, results are often conflicting or
inconclusive, and gaps in understanding make it difficult to effectively comprehend
adolescents’ unique relationship to social media. In this study we assess the
contribution of a new measurement of social media use, the Index of Nighttime Offline
Distress (iNOD), a self-reporting questionnaire that specifically accounts for emotional
concerns teenagers may feel at night when they need to disconnect and sleep. By
comparing it to popular measures that have been used in previous research and may fall
short, it was found that the iNOD is arguably a more effective and descriptive measure
of social media when looking at how it affects sleep quality. Moving forward, we hope
the iNOD can act as a model of the type of holistic approach that is needed to
understand the relationship between social media and sleep for adolescents. Teenagers
experience social media uniquely, and this must be accounted for when formatting sleep
education, policy, and attitudes towards social media.

Introduction
With 66% of the UK population actively using social media, it is clear how engrained
social networking is to our lives (Statista, 2020). Social media is especially prevalent in
teenagers' lives, with 95% of adolescents having access to a smartphone or device in
2019 (Pew Research Center, 2018). Three quarters of adolescents have at least one
social media profile (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2018), with
almost half reporting that they are online "almost constantly" (Pew Research Center,
2018).

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Adolescence is a period of significant biological, emotional, and social change, leading
teenagers to strongly desire a feeling of social connection and acceptance (Blakemore &
Mills, 2014; Sheldon & Bettencort, 2002; Hogg & Reid, 2006). This can cause
adolescents to utilize social media for different purposes than adults (Redden & Way,
2017). For example, adolescents report using social media as an extension of face-to-
face interactions (Ellison et. al, 2007; Scott et. al, 2018), and do not distinguish a
difference between online and offline communication (Redden & Way, 2017).
Furthermore, the desire to follow social norms, along with social media's facilitation
of 24/7 communication can cause adolescents to prioritize social interaction over the
need for sleep (Scott et. al, 2018). As a result, unhealthy sleep habits impair emotional
health, academic success, and physical safety of adolescents (Carskadon, 2011; Owens,
2014).
Due to the transitional nature of adolescence, there has been extensive research and
policy centered around social media's influence on sleep, mental health, and wellbeing.
However, the associations between these topics have often been found to
be conflicting or unrelated (Best et. al., 2014; Steger & Kashdan, 2009; Ellison & Boyd,
2013; 2015; Seabrook et. al., 2016; Orben & Przybylski, 2019). These inconsistencies can
perhaps be explained through the variety in methodologies and analyses employed
when researching social media, which often miss out on the larger picture. For example,
many studies do not distinguish social media use from technology use overall with hours
per day of "screen time" (Jenkins-Guarnieri et. al., 2013; Levenson et. al. 2016),
minimising social media's unique social affordances and neglecting the important
underlying motivations that may displace sleep (Scott & Woods, 2019; Scott et. al.,
2020). Additionally, use is often framed as "addiction" or "dependence" (Andreassen et.
al., 2012; Holmgren & Coyne, 2017; van den Eijnden et. al., 2016), despite no clinical
backing to this assertion (Billieux et. al., 2015; Griffiths et. al, 2014). This can create bias
towards studies that explore only the negative aspects of social media, when
adolescents report substantial benefits as well (Pew Research Center, 2018).
Importantly, this type of adolescent input is missing from most studies, which are

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approached from an adult-centric view, ignoring the fact that adolescents use social
media fundamentally differently than adults do (Redden & Way, 2017; Scott et. al,
2018). To begin to fill the gaps in the current research, a new measure - the Index of
Nighttime Offline Distress (iNOD) - was created (Scott et. al., 2020). Designed using input
from adolescents on their personal attitudes and concerns towards social media and
sleep, the iNOD measures difficulty disconnecting at night. The current study will
compare the iNOD to other commonly-used measures of social media and their impact
on sleep, and we expect the iNOD to add to the explanation of variance in adolescent
sleep quality when compared to other measures alone, as it taps into a more
comprehensive layer of understanding of adolescents' unique relationship to social
media. Through the comparison of various regression models, it was concluded that the
iNOD is an important predictor of sleep quality and does indeed account for significantly
more of the variance when it is included in the regression model.

Materials & Methods

Data was originally collected by Dr. Holly Scott for her PhD thesis (Scott et. al. 2020)

Participants
Participants were Scottish adolescents aged 10-18 years (N=3481, 51.6% female,
average age=14.6 years), who each took the online survey through their school. The
partner schools in question were recruited through online advertising of the survey, as
well as at policy events around Scotland.

Survey administration
Recruited partner schools were given information about the questionnaire and
instructions on how to facilitate taking of the survey on their own time. Information for
parents was also made available. The questionnaire was then distributed electronically
to the partner school. Schools tended to distribute the survey to either the entire
student body, or in some cases a smaller subset. Most schools ran the questionnaire

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during school hours, although some encouraged taking it during free time outside of
school. The survey consisted of the measures listed in the next section, and took on
average 10-20 minutes. Once participants had completed the questionnaire, the data
was sent electronically back to the researchers (Scott et. al., 2020).
The original study for which the data was collected was approved by the University of
Glasgow College of Science and Engineering Ethics Committee (Scott et. al., 2020).
Additionally, permission was granted by a lead administrator in each partner school, as
well as any required city councils. Neither names nor identifying details of the
participants were taken. Participants were informed of the study details through a
participant information sheet, and were aware that they could choose not to take part.
If they chose to participate they were asked to manually give consent by electronically
ticking a box. Parents, particularly of minors, could opt their child out of participation
prior to survey distribution.

Questionnaire items
The questionnaire included the Index of Nighttime Offline Distress (iNOD), as well as
questions that reflected other measurement variables: emotional connection to social
media, fear of missing out, personality traits, quantitative measures of social media use
at night, typical sleep habits, and perceived sleep quality.
The iNOD includes 10 questions that reflect why adolescents feel difficulty disconnecting
from social media at night, based on adolescents' candid responses in focus groups. It
consists of two subscales that reflect reasons adolescents gave for staying on social
media at night despite the known costs: Staying Connected and Following Etiquette.
These are reflected in the questions, such as "I worry that I will be left out from my
friends the next day if I don't see something on social media that night" for Staying
Connected, and "I feel like I have to continue a conversation even if I'm tired and want
to fall asleep" for Following Etiquette (Scott et. al., 2020). Participants were asked to
rate each statement from 1 ("not at all true of me") to 4 ("extremely true of me") when
asked to think about how they use social media at night.

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Emotional connection to social media was measured using the Social Integration and
Emotional Connection subscale of the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS;
Jenkins-Guarnieri et. al., 2013). The original scale used wording specific to Facebook, so
in order to increase the scope of the scale mentions of Facebook were replaced with
"social media", such as "Using social media is part of my everyday routine". Responses
were measured on a 1-6 Likert scale with higher summed totals indicating greater levels
of emotional connection to social media. The scale had good reliability in the population
(Cronbach’s alpha = 0.84).
The Fear of Missing Out scale (FOMO) measures how negatively an individual feels
about the thought of others having rewarding experiences without them, and includes
10 related statements, such as "I get worried when I find out my friends are having fun
without me" (Przybylski et. al., 2013). Participants are asked to rate each statement 1-5
from "not at all true of myself" to "extremely true of me" and a higher average score
over the ten items indicates a more pervasive fear of missing out. The FOMO scale had
good reliability in the sample (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89).
To measure sleep quality, the Sleep Condition Indicator was included (SCI; Espie et. al.,
2014). Its eight items measure difficulty falling and staying asleep, perceived sleep
quality, ease or difficulty of daytime functioning, and the duration and frequency of
sleep difficulties. Participants scored each item out of four, with a lower final summed
score indicating poorer sleep quality. The SCI was originally intended to detect insomnia,
indicated by a score of 16 or lower. The measure had good reliability in the population
(Cronbach’s alpha = 0.83; Scott et. al., 2020).
Participants also gave estimates, in hours and minutes, of how long they typically use
social media daily, in bed at night, and after they feel they should have gone to sleep.
Along with this, they also indicated what time they usually get in bed, what time they
actually close their eyes to sleep, and gave an estimate of their total time spent asleep,
both on weekdays and weekends.
The original questionnaire also included the mini International Personality Item Pool
(mini-IPIP; Donnellan et. al., 2006), a condensed 20-question version of the 50-item

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International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999). The mini-IPIP is an effective way to
measure the Big Five personality traits: Agreeableness, Openness, Extraversion,
Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism. However, responses to the mini-IPIP were not used
as we deemed personality too subjective and unrelated to the current study (McDonald,
2008; Borghans et. al., 2011).

Data analysis
Analysis was carried out in R version 3.6.1 (R Core Team, 2020). The data was extracted
from Experimentum and loaded into R, where it was separated into various datasets for
demographic analysis and regression model analysis. To explore the general
characteristics of the sample, the average response to each of the predictor measures
(iNOD, SMUIS, FOMO, SCI, and the three measures of social media use at night) was
investigated. Additionally, average times for bedtime, shuteye time, wake time, and
sleep duration in the population were calculated.
To build the regression models, certain measures were selected for inclusion based on
the themes that they represented. The SCI acted as a measure of overall sleep quality,
the SMUIS represented how emotionally connected participants felt to social media,
FOMO measured distress as a motivator to use social media, and daily social media use,
social media use in bed, and social media use past of time the participant felt they
should be asleep acted as a traditional "hours per day" measures. The iNOD represented
the new, in-depth approach to social media use in question.
Two multiple linear regression models were then built: a "full" model that included each
of these measures, and a model with each measure except for the iNOD.
To check the validity of the linear models, assumptions of normality for each of the
measures were assessed. Multicollinearity was checked through Variance Inflation
Factors (VIF) (Fox & Weisberg, 2019), and all measures fell in an acceptable range
(maximum VIF = 2.61; Daoud, 2017). Acceptable linearity was also visually apparent for
each predictor against the outcome measure SCI. Normality of residuals was checked
visually through a QQ plot and numerically through a Shapiro-Wilk test. Visual

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assessment of the QQ plots did not indicate any serious deviations from normality,
although the Shapiro-Wilk test did conclude that every predictor was non-normal.
However, the Shapiro-Wilk test has been found to be overly sensitive in large datasets
such as this one, and will often return a false positive, so in cases of datasets of N>300,
the outcome of the QQ plot should be prioritized (Ghasemi & Zahediasl, 2012).
Furthermore, tests of residual skew were carried out (Komsta & Novometsky, 2015),
and all measures fell in the acceptable range of +/-1.96 (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2014). To
check for homogeneity of the errors, or homoscedasticity, Non-Constant Variance Tests
and Breusch-Pagan tests were applied (Fox & Weisberg, 2019; Zeileis & Hothorn, 2002).
Both tests indicated violations of homoscedasticity for each measure.
To remedy this, Eicker-Huber-White standard errors were applied to the original linear
model, using "HC0" standard errors because of the large sample size (Blair et. al., 2020;
Hayes & Cai, 2007). These modifications, combined with the Central Limit Theorem that
large datasets will tend towards normality allowed us to be confident in the accuracy of
the models' outputs (Kwak & Kim, 2017; Lumley et. al., 2002). Both regression models
were run again in full, and to compare goodness of fit, they were submitted to an
ANOVA function.
Subsequently a Dominance Analysis (DA) was run on the full regression model
(Navarrete & Soares, 2020). DA estimates the R2 for all possible combinations of
predictors in a model as they are related to an outcome variable, in this case SCI, to
evaluate the importance of each individual predictor to the model (Azen & Budescu,
2003). According to Azen & Budescu, “one predictor is ‘more important than another’ if
it contributes more to the predictor of the criterion than does its competitor at a given
level of analysis”. In this case the criterion is SCI, so DA assesses which predictors are the
most “important” to determining sleep quality, and gives the ranked order in which they
are dominant.

Results
Demographic associations

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Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations for all of the regression measures.
The average score for the iNOD (mean=18.99, SD=8.88) was relatively low compared to
the maximum score of 50, but upon inspection of the histogram it became clear that
there is a floor effect, with a high amount of the responses concentrated at the lower
response limit. The floor effect was present for both the Following Etiquette and Staying
Connected subscales as well. The average score for the Sleep Condition Index was a
22.47, above the potential insomnia score cut off of 16, although 21.2% of participants
did score a 16 or below. In fact, the SCI histogram shows a left skew, with a large
proportion of answers clustering near the maximum limit, indicating better sleep quality
for many. On average, participants reported using social media for a little more than 4
hours per day, about an hour and a half once they get into bed, and a little more than
half an hour after they feel they should be asleep. For both social media usage in bed
and after participants should be sleeping, there was another noticeable floor effect, with
many participants reporting that they spend no time at all doing either (14.08% and
27.26% respectively).

Table 1 – Full-population means and standard deviations for the regression measures
SM in SM after
SCI SMUIS FOMO iNOD SM daily
bed should sleep
Mean 22.47 20.90 2.38 18.99 4.04 1.34 .64

SD 7.19 7.29 .92 8.88 3.29 1.46 .84

Notes: N = 2323; SM daily, SM in bed, and SM after should sleep in decimal hours.

Table 2 reports average bedtimes, wake times, shuteye times, and sleep durations for
the full population. The times below correspond to the decimal hours that participants,
on average, reported for of these sleep habits. Bedtime indicates the time a participant
gets into bed, and shuteye time indicates what time they actually close their eyes to
sleep. Each time is reported for both weekends and weekdays.

Table 2 – Full-population average sleep timings

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 Bedtime Shuteye time Wake time Sleep duration
WD WE WD WE WD WE WD WE

Mean 10.34 11.33 11.32 12.47 7.06 9.34 7.49 8.50

SD 1.51 1.97 1.63 2.05 .96 2.06 1.55 1.94

Notes: N=2,216; WD=weekday, WE=weekend; Time in decimal hours

Regression analysis
When regression analysis was run with and without the iNOD, it was found that more of
the variance was explained when the iNOD was included in the model. With the
inclusion of the iNOD, the 6 predictors explained 20.5% of the variance (R 2=.2047,
F(6,2316)=82.5, p<.001). Without the iNOD, the remaining 5 predictors explained 19.3%
of the variance (R2=.1934, F(5,2317)=92.07, p<.001). Submitting both models to an
ANOVA returned that the full model was significantly better at fitting the data than the
model without the iNOD (Table 3).

Table 3 – ANOVA comparison of the two regression models

Model R2 Adjusted R2 F p
No iNOD .1951 .1934
Full model .2068 .2047 34.007 <.0001

Table 4 presents the regression output for the full model. Of the predictors,
the iNOD predicted sleep quality (β=-0.123, p<.0001), as did FOMO (β=-1.615, p<.0001),
and social media use after the participant felt they should be asleep (β=-0.038,
p<0.0001). SMUIS, social media daily use, and social media in bed did not predict sleep
quality. The same pattern followed for the model without the iNOD (Table 5). FOMO
was still a significant predictor (β=-2.174, p<.0001), as was social media after the
individual should sleep (β=-0.041, p<.0001). SMUIS, social media daily, and social media
in bed once again did not predict sleep quality.

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Table 4 – Regression coefficients and output for full model
β SE t statistic p
Intercept 29.883 .449 66.448 < .0001
iNOD -.123 .024 -5.027 < .0001
FOMO -1.615 .224 -7.187 < .0001
SMUIS -.005 .025 -.211 .833
SM daily .001 .001 .693 .488
SM in bed .003 .003 1.155 .248
SM after should
-.038 .004 -8.767 < .0001
sleep
Notes: Dependent variable: SCI

Table 5 – Regression coefficients and output for model without iNOD

β SE t statistic p
Intercept 29.801 .453 65.731 < .0001
FOMO -2.174 .192 -11.271 < .0001
SMUIS -.042 .025 -1.676 .09
SM daily .0004 .001 .528 .597
SM in bed .003 .003 1.157 .247
SM after should
-.041 .004 -9.628 < .0001
sleep
Notes: Dependent variable: SCI

Finally, Dominance Analysis (DA) was carried out to assess the relative importance of
each predictor in the full model. DA returned the contributions of each predictor on
sleep quality, from most influential to least influential, as: FOMO (0.056), social media
after the participant should sleep (0.053), iNOD (0.052), SMUIS (0.021), social media in
bed (0.016), and social media daily (0.009).

Age Differences
While the inclusion of the iNOD does explain more of the variance in sleep quality, it
was only a slight improvement (1.6% increase in R2). This caused us to question what

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other factors could have an effect on sleep. As various periods of adolescence are
associated with changes in circadian rhythms (Woods & Scott, 2019) and the age range
of the population was large, we began to consider age as a potential factor and a brief
exploratory analysis into any potential effect was carried out.
The population was split into an "older" group (above and including mean age) and a
"younger" group (below mean age). To assess any objective differences between the
groups, bedtime (the time a participant gets into bed), shuteye time (the time a
participant actually closes their eyes to go to sleep), wake time, and sleep duration were
compared with two sample t tests (Table 6). On both weekdays and weekends, older
adolescents tended to get into bed later and close their eyes to sleep later than younger
adolescents. There was no difference between the groups' wake times on weekdays
(t(2205)=0.22, p=.82), most likely due to similar times waking up for school. On
weekends, however, older adolescents woke up later than their younger counterparts
(t(2214)=3.52, p < .001). Because they went to sleep earlier, younger adolescents had
longer sleep durations on weekdays, which remained the case for weekends as well
(t(2214)=3.46, p < .001).

Table 6 – Age differences for sleep times

Younger Older
Mean SD Mean SD p
Bedtime
Weekday 10.15 1.38 10.45 1.49 <.0001
Weekend 11.10 1.81 11.61 2.02 <.0001
Shuteye time
Weekday 11.07 1.58 11.55 1.52 <.0001
Weekend 12.28 1.99 12.74 1.99 <.0001
Wake time
Weekday 7.05 0.89 7.04 0.84 ns
Weekend 12.28 1.99 9.55 2.04 <.0001
Sleep duration
Weekday 7.74 1.53 7.26 1.42 <.0001

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 Weekend 8.69 1.90 8.40 1.87 <.0001
Notes: N=2,216; ns = not significant; Older > 14.6 years. Time in decimal hours.

Additionally, both the younger and older populations were run through the full
regression model. Table 7 presents the regression coefficients for both the younger and
older samples. For younger adolescents, the model explained 25.3% of the variance in
sleep quality (R2=.2529, F(6, 1175)=48.46), and the older adolescent model accounted
for 14.2% (R2=.1421, F(6,1027)=29.29). The predictors of sleep quality that were
significant in the full population model (FOMO, iNOD, social media use after intended
bedtime) were consistent across both age groups as well.

Table 7 – Regression coefficients for younger and older adolescents

β SE t statistic p
Intercept
Younger 30.816 .578 53.272 <.0001
Older 28.773 .736 39.076 <.0001
iNOD
Younger -.160 .035 -4.294 <.0001
Older -.080 .035 -2.290 <.05
FOMO
Younger -1.394 .309 -4.508 <.0001
Older -1.496 .329 -4.551 <.0001
SMUIS
Younger -.0003 .033 -.010 .992
Older -.066 .0398 -1.670 .095
SM daily
Younger .0003 .001 .296 .767
Older .001 .002 .938 .348
SM in bed
Younger .003 .004 .758 .449
Older .003 .004 .657 .511
SM after should sleep
Younger -.041 .006 -6.822 <.0001
Older -.031 .007 -4.611 <.0001

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Notes: Dependent variable: SCI; N(younger)=1,182, N(older)=1,034; Younger < 14.6 years.

Finally, to explore if age had an effect on the relative importance of the predictors, DA
was run for both of the age groups’ regressions. When it came to the relative
importance of each predictor in the model, the two age groups differed. The importance
of predictors in the younger adolescent model, from highest to lowest dominance,
were: social media use after when they would like to be asleep (0.069), the iNOD
(0.067), FOMO (0.054), social media use in bed (0.026), SMUIS (0.025), social media use
daily (0.015). For older adolescents FOMO was the most dominant in the model (0.048),
followed by the iNOD (0.035), social media after they want to sleep (0.031), SMUIS
(0.023), social media use in bed (0.007), and social media daily use (0.0003). This means
that for younger participants, using social media after they feel they should be asleep is
the most important predictor of sleep quality, whereas FOMO is the most important
predictor for older adolescents.

Discussion
Based on the regression analyses and the Dominance Analysis, the iNOD does contribute
to the explanation of adolescent sleep quality variance. As the regression model that
included the iNOD fits the data significantly better, we can conclude that the iNOD and
the constructs it represents are a useful measure in understanding social media use and
its impact on sleep. As adolescents reported higher scores on the FOMO scale and
the iNOD, as well as longer durations of using social media after they felt they should be
asleep, scores on the SCI decreased (with lower scores on the SCI indicating worse sleep
quality). Therefore, heightened distress about specific concerns (Following Etiquette and
Staying Connected), greater preoccupation with the activities and experiences of others
(FOMO), and extended use of social media after bedtime are associated with a decrease
in sleep quality. This is in line with research that suggests simply quantifying use in hours
and minutes or classifying social media as "addictive" are not effective approaches on
their own (Scott & Woods, 2019). Two hours per day measures – social media use daily
and social media use in bed – and the SMUIS, which represented emotional connection,

16
were not significant predictors. As stated, there is currently no clinical backing for
addiction to social media in particular (Billieux et. al., 2015; Griffiths et. al, 2014), and
higher levels of emotional connection to social media itself does not seem to affect
sleep quality as the narrative of some previous studies suggests. Furthermore, the floor
effect on the iNOD, its subscales, and both social media use in bed and after the desire
to sleep indicate that many adolescents do not have trouble disengaging. The fact that
many adolescents reported not using their phone at all after they had gotten into bed
further challenges the idea that social media is highly addicting. If addiction or
dependence were the case, we might expect to see absence of, or at least a
minimization of the floor effect with many more adolescents reporting that they do not
disconnect from their phone after they’ve gotten into bed.
Interestingly, all three significant predictors seem to be related in terms of the themes
they represent. While social media use after the time the participant intended to be
asleep is an "hours per day" measure, it is distinct in that it represents social media use
that is specifically cutting into time that the participant feels they should be asleep. This
choice to remain on social media despite the known cost is reflected in both subscales
of the iNOD. For example, adolescents report not wanting to feel rude by ending a
nighttime conversation (Following Etiquette), and feel that it is necessary to be
reachable and responsive 24/7 (Staying Connected) - feelings that would likely keep
them up past when they feel they should be asleep and be a detriment on sleep
quality. Conversely, FOMO is reflected specifically in the Staying Connected subscale,
which includes statements such as "I would feel left out from my friends if I could not
use social media at night". FOMO anxiety could drive adolescents to remain on social
media in order to not miss out, further cutting into sleep time and decreasing overall
sleep quality. Furthermore, FOMO was the measure with the greatest predictor
dominance in the model, suggesting that preoccupation with missing out may
be especially influential on sleep quality, and could be worth further investigation.
Overall, it is clear that feelings of wanting to be constantly available and following social

17
norms are particularly salient to adolescents, and greater preoccupation with these
traits is associated with worse sleep quality.
Furthermore, our brief exploratory analysis showed that some potential age differences
exist when it comes to adolescent social media use and sleep, which highlights that
there is diversity within these subjects. For example, the dominance analysis showed
that social media after the participant wants to sleep was the most important predictor
of sleep quality for younger adolescents, but FOMO was the most important for older
adolescents. This is in line with social changes during adolescence – in the early stages
of this time the focus is on creating a social circle, whereas later on in the motivation
becomes maintaining that group (Durell, 2004; Rubin et. al., 2008; Youniss & Haynie,
1992; US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2019). The dominance analyses reflect
this transition, as younger adolescents may be feeling like they need to stay on social
media even after they might want to disconnect to make friends, while older
adolescents could be more preoccupied with missing out from their already established
friend groups. This reinforces the idea that across the span of adolescence there are
fundamental differences, and these can range from changes objective habits such as as
bedtime or sleep duration to subjective experiences like the motivations to use social
media.
Moving forward, we hope that the conclusions of this study can be used to investigate
further research. Social media is an ever-changing landscape that is likely to become
even further prevalent in our lives, and this calls for a better understanding of how it can
affect those that use it the most. For one, the causes and consequences of FOMO
anxiety in particular should be investigated further, as it seems to be a significant
detriment on sleep quality. Additionally, the brief exploration into age shows further
promising evidence to support the merits of moving away from the generalized and
narrow approaches that can be commonly utilized in current social media research. For
example, studies sometimes focus on a small age range of adolescence or work off of
blanketed assumptions about social media use, but the differences between even the
two age groups explored here show that there is evident diversity across motivations

18
and patterns of use in adolescence. These important differences can be lost if the focus
is too narrow, or too one-dimensional. There are clearly divergences and diversity within
how and why social media is used across different stages of adolescence, and this
phenomenon is important to creating a deeper understanding of the social media/sleep
relationship.
Additionally, we hope that pushing for holistic approaches and recognition of diversity
will inform policy and attitudes towards social media and sleep. Often attitudes towards
social media use can revolve around “how often” or “how much is too much”, which
have been shown to miss out on the crucial bigger picture of why adolescents want to
spend time on their devices (Scott et. al., 2020). To mitigate “overuse” or “addiction”
the solution is often to remove the device from the adolescent or set inflexible time
limits for use (UK House of Commons). And while setting time and content boundaries
on social media is important, simply removing the source can exacerbate anxiety over
missing out or being rude and create further problems. Sleep interventions, school
policies, and parenting strategies should be shaped to target underlying distress about
using social media, including staying connected and following social etiquette, rather
than solely limiting screen time. Furthermore, the differences between age groups show
that there needs to be a focus on diversification of policy and discussions about social
media and sleep. It is clear that policy and attitudes cannot be “one size fits all” when
underlying biological and emotional changes play a role in how different ages use social
media and how this affects their sleep patterns. Importantly, attitudes surrounding this
topic should be less about quantity of use and more about context of use, and
particularly how that may change over time. And crucially, forming these policies and
strategies, as well as future research, should incorporate adolescent input, as this is one
of the unique strengths of the iNOD. Truly understanding adolescents’ relationship to
social media will come from discussions with the adolescents themselves, and not from
third-party assumptions.
There were some limitations to the study, notably the self-reporting aspect, as this can
introduce bias. This is particularly evident when subjective topics such as sleep quality

19
are being measured, as individual differences in the personal experience of "good" or
"bad" sleep will always be present (Althubaiti, 2018; Demetriou et al., 2015).
Furthermore, while the iNOD gives valuable insight into the individual experiences of
adolescents, this sort of subjective measure should be utilized in tandem with verifiable
ones, like social media activity and sleep habits. The subjective nature of social media
use is clearly important, but that is not to say quantifiable measures should be ignored
completely. Overall, a holistic approach that includes objective and subjective measures
will best unite biology, behavior, and psychology.
Adolescence is a time of extraordinary social, emotional, cognitive, and biological
change as teenagers transition into adulthood, and it can be challenging to navigate for
adolescents, parents, and administrators. Social media will remain a crucial part of
adolescents’ lives and effective policies and attitudes should recognize this. Therefore,
the most holistic and relevant information and support should be available, including
facilitating healthy social media use. As a measurement tool, the iNOD serves as an
effective example of the merit in moving past “screen time” and examining the
underlying concerns some adolescents feel when trying to disconnect from social media
to sleep. To continue to support adolescents and encourage healthy sleep practices
there needs to be an emphasis on this sort of comprehensive and meaningful approach
to social media, rather than viewing it as simply a function of technology.

20
I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Heather Cleland Woods, for her support, guidance,
and patience throughout this project. I am very thankful for her constructive discussion
and insightful critiques of this paper.
I am also thankful to my friends and family who supported me, shared their ideas, and
read countless drafts.

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