Video gamers likely to delay bedtime by 100 minutes

New York: Young adults find video gaming so compelling that they often end up delaying bedtime by more than one and half hours on the nights spent gaming, reveals new research.

"These findings provide further insight into factors that influence individuals' decision making when determining if they should get sufficient sleep,” said lead author Brandy Roane, Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Centre in the US.

The study included online surveys from 963 gamers. Participants were US gamers with an average age of 28.7 years who played video games at least once the previous week. 

The analysis showed that on average, gamers delayed going to bed 36 per cent of the nights they played video games. 

Average game playing was 4.6 nights per week and the average delay in bedtime on the nights spent gaming was 101 minutes.

"Our data shows that video gaming is quite an important factor that frequently leads to missed sleep for 67 percent of gamers," Roane noted.

"Additionally, the reasons provided by gamers for their choice to delay their bedtime strongly supports the inclusion of video gaming as an addictive behavior," Roane said.

The findings were presented at SLEEP 2016, the 30th anniversary meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS), in Denver.