The Impact of Blue Light Exposure Immediately Before Bed on Sleep Quality and Mood Measured in High School Students
Abstract: Exposure to blue light is rapidly increasing due to the rise in technology usage on a day to day basis. Previous studies have looked into how blue light exposure before bed negatively correlates to sleep and melatonin production, but no prior research investigated the impact blue light exposure from all sources is having on both sleep quality and mood in the high school students. This prompts the research question: How does the exposure to blue light immediately before bed impact the quality of sleep and mood in the morning measured in high school students? To determine if blue light exposure is associated with diminished sleep quality and worsened mood in high school students, a two week data collection period was utilized, with only high school participants partaking in the study. Participants were instructed to complete a questionnaire measuring participants' sleep quality and mood through a variety of questions pertaining to their night and morning routine. After data collection, the researcher compared participant responses with and without blue light exposure for each question. Utilizing a two proportion z-test, two moods yielded a statistically significant difference between blue light exposure and no blue light exposure, which were tiredness and energy in the morning. This means that blue light exposure before bed does increase tiredness while decreasing energy in the morning in high school students.