The Impact of Nighttime Social Media Use on Sleep Quality in Adolescents: A Narrative Review

Sleep is a fundamental physiological process regulated by circadian rhythms and hormonal mechanisms, crucial for adolescents’ cognitive, emotional, and physical development. Modern lifestyles, including evening social media use, increasingly disrupt these processes. This narrative review examines how nighttime engagement with social media affects adolescent sleep through behavioral, psychological, and physiological pathways. A structured literature research was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar to identify peer-reviewed studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses published between 2016 and 2026. Keywords included “social media”, “adolescents”, “sleep quality”, “circadian rhythm”, “sleep duration” and “blue light exposure”. Foundational studies and relevant reports from international organizations were also included to provide context. Studies were selected if they investigated the relationship between social media or digital device use and sleep outcomes in adolescents. Evening social media use is consistently associated with delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, and poorer sleep quality. Behavioral factors such as habitual device checking and fear of missing out displace sleep, while psychological arousal from emotionally salient content further delays sleep initiation. Physiologically, exposure to blue light disrupts melatonin secretion and circadian timing. These mechanisms interact, forming a reinforcing cycle that contributes to daytime fatigue and potential mental health risks. Nighttime social media use adversely affects adolescent sleep through interconnected behavioral, psychological, and physiological pathways. Interventions targeting the timing and context of device use, alongside sleep hygiene education, may mitigate these effects. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to clarify causal relationships and inform effective strategies for promoting healthy adolescent sleep.