If your adolescents want to lessen their chances of having sleep problems, they should limit their television viewing. Adolescents who watch three or more hours of television per day are more likely to have sleep problems and these problems persist when they become young adults. By limiting television viewing to one hour or less, many of the sleep problems disappear.
Factors such as the adolescents' sex, previous sleep problems, psychiatric disorders, neglect, parental educational level, socio-economic status, and parental psychiatric problems don't affect the results.
Not only does extensive television viewing affect adolescents' sleep, but it has implications for when they are young adults.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 6/04, 562-568.
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