Social Media Is Keeping Young Adults Awake

A new study has found that social media could be affecting the sleep of young adults.

一项新的研究发现，社交媒体可能会影响年轻人的睡眠。

The study is a project of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine.

这项研究是匹兹堡大学医学院的一个研究项目。

They found that young people who often use social media are more likely to suffer from sleep disorders than those who use social media less.

他们发现经常使用社交媒体的年轻人比那些较少使用社交媒体的年轻人更容易患上睡眠障碍。

The researchers say doctors should ask young adults about their use of social media when treating sleep issues.

研究人员说，医生在治疗睡眠问题时应该询问年轻人社交媒体的使用情况。

"This is one of the first pieces of evidence that social media use really can impact your sleep," said Jessica C. Levenson. She is a postdoctoral researcher in the university's Department of Psychiatry. She was the lead author of a report on the study.

杰西卡·C·莱文森说：“这是第一批证据，证明社交媒体的使用确实会影响你的睡眠。”她是大学精神病学系的博士后研究员。她是这项研究报告的主要作者。

The researchers set out to examine the connection between social media use and sleep among young adults. Levenson noted that these young adults are possibly the first "generation to grow up with social media."

研究人员开始研究年轻人使用社交媒体与睡眠之间的关系。莱文森指出，这些年轻人可能是第一代“与社交媒体一起成长的人”。

The researchers wanted to find out how often young people used social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Histogram, Snapshot, Credit and Tumbler. For the study, they gave questionnaires to nearly 1,800 adults, aged 19 to 32.

研究人员想了解年轻人使用社交媒体网站的频率，如Facebook、Twitter、柱状图、快照、信用卡和翻滚。在这项研究中，他们对近1800名19至32岁的成年人进行了问卷调查。

On average, members of the study group used social media sites one hour a day. They also "visited various social media accounts 30 times per week."

研究小组成员平均每天使用一小时的社交媒体网站。他们还“每周访问各种社交媒体账户30次”。

Thirty percent of the study's participants reported having serious problems with sleeping. Those people who used social media a lot were three times more likely to have a sleep disorder. And those who spent the most time on social media were two times as likely to suffer from sleep disturbances.

30%的研究参与者报告睡眠有严重问题。那些经常使用社交媒体的人患睡眠障碍的可能性是其他人的三倍。而那些在社交媒体上花费时间最多的人，患睡眠障碍的几率是正常人的两倍。

Frequent checking is big part of the problem

经常检查是问题的主要部分

Levenson said the number of times a person visits social media is a better predictor of sleep problems than overall time spent on social media. If this is true, she adds, then practices that stop such behaviors may be most effective.

Levenson说，一个人访问社交媒体的次数比花在社交媒体上的时间更能预测睡眠问题。如果这是真的，她补充说，那么阻止这种行为的实践可能是最有效的。

Researchers say social media can influence sleep patterns in a number of ways.

研究人员说，社交媒体可以通过多种方式影响睡眠模式。

People can lose sleep by staying up too late looking at social media.

Sensitive issues argued about on social media can cause "emotional, cognitive or physiological" excitement.

人们会因为熬夜看社交媒体而失眠。              

在社交媒体上争论的敏感问题会引起“情感、认知或生理”兴奋。

Using an electronic device can interfere with a body's natural sleep rhythms because of the light coming from cell phones or computer screens.

由于手机或电脑屏幕发出的光，使用电子设备会干扰人体的自然睡眠节奏。

The researchers note that in some cases, young adults who have a hard time sleeping may use social media to help them fall asleep.

研究人员指出，在某些情况下，睡眠困难的年轻人可以利用社交媒体帮助他们入睡。

"It also may be that both of these hypotheses are true," says Brian A. Primack. He is director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health. He is also the study's senior author.

布赖恩A.普里马克说：“这两种假设可能都是真的。”他是媒体、技术和健康研究中心的主任。他也是该研究的资深作者。

Primack says "difficulty sleeping may lead to increased use of social media, which may in turn lead to more problems sleeping. This cycle may be particularly problematic with social media. Many forms of social media involve interactive screen time that is stimulating and rewarding and, for those reasons, can keep you awake."

普里马克说，“睡眠困难可能导致社交媒体的使用增加，而社交媒体又可能导致更多的睡眠问题。”这一循环可能对社交媒体尤其有问题。许多形式的社交媒体都涉及到互动式的屏幕时间，这种时间既刺激又有回报，因此可以让你保持清醒。”

Researchers published their findings in the journal Preventative Medicine.

I'm Anna Matteo.