1 Adolescents who perceive fewer consequences of risk-taking choose to switch off games later at night Chelsea M. Reynolds1, Michael Gradisar (grad0011@flinders.edu.au)1, Kellyann Kar1, Ashleigh Perry1, Jasper Wolfe2, Michelle A. Short2 1. School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia 2. Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia ABSTRACT Aim: Technology use by adolescents close to bedtime commonly leads to sleep problems, and individual factors predicting those at heightened risk are under studied. We investigated whether risk-taking perceptions influenced length of adolescent technology use at bedtime and whether being aware of time moderated this association. Methods: We recruited 16 males and five females, with a mean age of 17.6 years, from school and university populations to assess adolescent technology use and bedtimes. They were assessed for trait risk-taking using the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events questionnaire and had unrestrained access to a video game on two separate nights, counterbalanced for clock present or clock absent conditions. The adolescentsǯ self- selected bedtime provided a measure of the level of technology use and was the dependent variable. Results: Adolescents who perceived fewer negative consequences of risky activities on the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events played the video game longer and went to bed later than those who perceived more negative consequences (p = 0.03). There was no influence on bedtimes from perceived benefits of risk-taking or clock presence. Conclusion: Adolescents who perceived fewer negative consequences of risk-taking were more likely to stay up later using technology, facing a heightened risk of displaced sleep. INTRODUCTION Night-time technology use during adolescence may affect sleep quantity, sleep quality and daytime tiredness (1,2). Surveys indicate adolescents frequently delay bedtime to use phones, computers, televisions and game consoles, regardless of feeling tired the following day (1,2). Along with daytime tiredness, sleep loss during adolescence can result in poor emotional and behavioural regulation, substance use and poor academic performance and attendance (3,4). As technology becomes more available and portable, its presence in bedrooms has grown (1,5), with many adolescents obtaining less than the recommended sleep of at least 9 h for optimal functioning (5). Cain and Gradisar (1) developed a model incorporating several mechanisms by which technology use might disrupt adolescentsǯ sleep. Experimental studies have tested some of these mechanisms, including bright screen light (6,7) and physiological arousal (8,9), yet surprisingly produced only mild-to moderate effects. To date, there has been no controlled experimental analysis of technology use displacing sleep published. If a controlled laboratory study confirms survey findings, it will be important to identify why some adolescents switch off their technology later than others, and whether adolescents themselves, or their parents, can implement simple techniques to circumvent delayed bedtimes, truncated sleep and daytime dysfunction. Risk-taking and sleep During adolescence, risk-taking and reward sensitivity increases ȋͳͲ,ͳͳȌ, which may partly explain adolescentsǯ continued use of technology past an acceptable bedtime. Risky behaviour can be exacerbated when the adolescent chooses late bedtimes and inadequate sleep (11). A perception that risk-taking is not harmful can then promote poor decision-making, for example staying up late to use technology, resulting in a cycle of potentially damaging sleep related behaviour. Understanding contributing factors to these cyclic behaviours may assist development of possible interventions and treatments. In this study, we predicted that more positive perceptions of risk-taking would coincide with longer technology use, in this case video gaming, and hence a later bedtime on school nights. Technology use and time misperception Misperception of time is commonly experienced by adolescent video gamers (12), who typically underestimate the length of time they spend gaming (13). Many adolescents enjoy the escapism when playing video games (12). On the other hand, some gamers feel the need to engage in time management strategies to avoid playing for longer than they desire, such as ensuring a clock is in clear view (12). If a clock is present when video gaming, it is plausible that adolescents less inclined to take risks would monitor the time to prevent a delayed bedtime. We hypothesised that risk-taking perception would have an impact on self-selected bedtimes after video gaming and that the presence of a clock would moderate this. METHOD We recruited 21 adolescents aged 17.6 years (standard deviation = 1.8 years), ranging from 15 to 20 years, from high school and young university populations from 58 initial responses to advertisements. The participants were 16 males and five females. Keywords Adolescent sleep, Bedtime, Risk-taking, Technology use, Video gaming Correspondence A/Prof M Gradisar, PhD, c/o Flinders University, School of Psychology, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001 Australia. Tel.: +61 8 8201 2192 | Fax: +61 8 8201 3877 | Email: grad0011@flinders.edu.au