Abstract
Statement of the Problem
Working in a school can be stressful and about half of educators in a national survey reported less than the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep. Smartphones and other screened devices can cause sleep loss and are becoming more prevalent. Is there a relationship between the use of screened devices and sleep among the employees of a school district?
Procedures
Employees (n=36) of a small southern Minnesota school district were given an online survey regarding their sleep habits utilizing the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), their screen time use, utilizing the Screen Time Questionnaire (STQ), and their perception of how screened devices affected their bed time, sleep time and ability to sleep due to what they had seen on the screened device just before bedtime.
Findings
Study respondents slept an average of 6.55 hours per night, with 58.3% of participants sleeping80% of participants were categorized as poor sleepers on the PSQI, and one-third used over the counter or prescriptions sleeping medications once per week or more, more frequent than use of sleeping medications by the general population. Television and smartphone use were reported as the most used devices yet were reported to be of a shorter duration than that of the general population. There was no statistically significant correlation between screen time as measured by the SCQ and sleep scores on PSQI. The use of screened devices affected the time when 30.6% of participants went to bed and when 33.4% of participants went to sleep. Almost 14% reported difficulty going to sleep due to their use of screened devices. Smartphones were indicated as the device that affected bedtime (61.1%) and sleep time (63.9%).
Advisor
Mary Kramer
Committee Member
Joseph Visker
Committee Member
Emily Forsyth
Date of Degree
2020
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Health Science
College
Allied Health and Nursing
Recommended Citation
Bruihler, M. K. L (2020). Screens, school district employees, and sleep: Is there a relationship? [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1015/
Creative Commons License
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