Over 2 out of 10 students in Adelaide high schools take time to get to sleep every night as they want to use electronic devices, a study at the Adelaide University reveals.

News.com.au reports that psychologist Dr Daniel King co-authored this study which recorded how Adelaide students are addicted to electronic media. The study was conducted among 1,287 students who were aged between 12 and 18. It has also been found in the study that 1 out of 10 students suffers from insomniac disorders, while 1 out of 20 from interrupted sleep.

Dr King said that the study found electronic media to have a significantly negative correlation with the sleep during both weekends and weekdays. It also has a correlation with delay in bedtime among the students. The study further revealed that the sleep-related problems could turn out to be pathological, unless people were properly educated about it.

Dr King further said that the excessive use of media had a potentially negative impact. There is a requirement for educating young people about how it can affect their health, he said. Additionally, teachers and parents should also be educated about the use of electronic media in a responsible manner, he added.

Twenty-two per cent adolescents said that they delayed their bedtime every night, while 29 per cent considered it to be something that happened often. Another 37 per cent did it sometimes, while 12 per cent claimed that they had never done it. The number of adolescents who study as well as have enough sleep is extremely limited. They claim that they manage to sleep for over 9 hours every night, as suggested by the National Sleep Foundation to be "optimal". Eight per cent of them said that they had difficulty in falling asleep, while 6 per cent complained of sleep interruption.

The study was published in the January issue of the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.