I was always told not to use my cell phone right before going to bed because it would make it harder to fall asleep. This might be true, but there are also other negative effects that accompany late night cell phone use.
A study done by Michigan State asked 82 upper-level managers and 161 employees of a variety of different occupations to fill out a survey every day for two weeks. The surveys showed that late night cell phone use cut into the amount of hours of sleep the participants were able to get and also caused them to be less engaged and less energetic the next day.
A large reason for this effect is that cell phones give off blue light, which impedes with the use of melatonin in the body, which is a chemical that promotes sleep.
Recent research has shown that there are also a lot of more negative, long-term effects of late night cell phone usage. Along with a worse night’s sleep, which a study of 12 people found again in this study, Penn State (woohoo) professor Anne-Marie Chang said that there are more alarming negative effects as well.
This reduced amount of melatonin can be very costly in the long run. Recurrent elimination of the chemical has been related to an increased risk of prostate, colorectal, and breast cancers. A steady lack of sleep has also been related to obesity and diabetes.
The effects of late night cell phone usage has been found to be most profound in teenagers aged 15 to 17. Such teenagers were also found to be more likely to use their cell phones late at night.