Sleep and smartphone use: Within and between-person relationships from an objective longitudinal smartphone and wearable data donation study

Paulien Decorte, Karolien Poels, Cedric Vuye, Jonas Lembrechts, Ablenya Barros, Karolien Couscheir and Gert-Jan De Bruijn

PLOS Digital Health, 2026, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Poor sleep is common and detrimental to health. Smartphone use is often noted as a sleep disruptor, but evidence remains limited and inconsistent. This necessitates research focused on objective, longitudinal designs, as well as analytical approaches that can reveal lagged and reciprocal relationships that capture within- and between-person effects. To address these gaps, the current study investigated within- and between-person lagged and reciprocal effects of sleep duration and smartphone use of 68 participants through longitudinal and objective data donated from iPhones and Apple Watches across 14 consecutive days. Apple Watches objectively measured total sleep and sleep stage durations (REM, core, and deep sleep), while iPhones assessed total smartphone use duration and in-bed smartphone use. Two Dynamic Structural Equation Models (DSEMs), one with total sleep and one with sleep broken down into three sleep stages, were conducted. At the within-person level, more total smartphone use increased same-day in-bed smartphone use, β = .25 (95% CI .20, .31), which in turn led to more same-day overall sleep, β = .08 (95% CI .02, .14). Additionally, results indicated stable between-person habits, with strong day-to-day associations for each variable with its own next-day value, β = .53-.82 (95% CI .47, .88). Findings contradict the perspective of smartphones as sleep disruptors, despite leaving open whether this added sleep means poorer rest or a real benefit of in-bed smartphone use. Furthermore, the strength of the between-person results emphasizes the importance of habits in this relationship. In studying day-to-day smartphone use and sleep, these findings provide nuanced empirical insights supporting health and policy recommendations regarding smartphone use and sleep hygiene.Author summary: Poor sleep is widespread and linked to many health problems. Smartphone use is often blamed for making sleep worse. However, past findings have been mixed, and many studies rely on self-reports or short-term designs. In this study, we examined how daily smartphone use and sleep relate to each other over time using objective data. We analyzed two weeks of real-world data from iPhones and Apple Watches worn by 68 adults. This allowed us to track how much people used their phones, how often they used them in bed, and how long they slept each night, including different types of sleep.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pdig00:0001232

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0001232

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