wellness
screen time and sleep: what the research actually shows
New data on evening device use points to measurable drops in sleep duration for adults who keep screens in the bedroom.
How we reported this
A 2025 analysis by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine tracked 1,200 adults and found that device use within one hour of bedtime reduced total sleep by an average of 45 minutes per night.
The finding arrives as Eugene residents adjust to longer July evenings in the Willamette Valley, where many keep phones and tablets on nightstands for news updates or streaming after dark. Local health workers note rising reports of fragmented sleep among people who live near the university and downtown corridors.
Programs already running in Eugene
The University of Oregon Student Health Center on 13th Avenue added a four-week digital wind-down series this spring that includes blue-light filter demos and bedroom audits. Participants pay $25 for the full course and receive a printed checklist of changes tested in their own homes. Two blocks away, the downtown branch of the Eugene Public Library on 10th Avenue began offering 30-minute evening sessions in May that cover the same research and hand out free amber-lens glasses to the first 20 attendees each month.
Both efforts draw from the same 2025 data set and focus on the Whiteaker neighborhood and the South University area, where apartment density and fiber internet make late-night scrolling common.
Researchers behind the academy report also measured melatonin levels and found a 23 percent drop in the hormone when participants used phones in bed versus reading a paper book under warm lighting. The study controlled for age and work schedules, and the effect held across the 18-to-64 age range.
Changes that fit daily routines
People in Eugene can start with one concrete swap tonight: move the charging station out of the bedroom and set a 30-minute buffer before lights out. The library sessions recommend replacing the final scroll with a five-minute walk along the river path that runs behind Alton Baker Park. Staff at the health center suggest testing a $15 smart plug that cuts power to a bedside lamp at 10 p.m. on weeknights. Residents who try these steps for two weeks are asked to track sleep with a simple paper log rather than another app.