First-year students of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture participated in the event held between 14.00 and 16.00 on 22.02.2024; Istanbul Gelisim University Head of Child Development Department Dr. Lecturer Member Nurten ELKİN in her speech;
Sleep, which is a basic need of people, is necessary for being healthy, happy, quality of life, and productive in daily life; she stated that the duration and quality of sleep, which is a physiological state that occurs in a cycle with wakefulness, is equally important in terms of quality of life, and that sleep patterns also affect daytime activities. She stated that lifestyle changes and environmental factors increasingly cause sleep problems such as poor sleep quality and that poor sleep quality is associated with depression, confusion, fatigue, and low life satisfaction. She stated that the frequency of sleep disorders varies according to age groups and societies and that university students, in particular, are an important segment of society affected by sleep problems. She emphasized that one of the lifestyle habits that young people frequently change after starting university is their sleeping patterns, and as a result, the majority of university students sleep irregularly due to their social and academic lives. She stated that in studies conducted on sleep among university students in our country, poor sleep quality is seen as a common problem among university students.
In her speech, ELKİN said; “By defining poor sleep quality and talking about the physical and psychological reasons that disrupt sleep quality; Mentioning literature studies on sleep disorders and poor sleep quality; Evaluating the relationship between age, gender, socioeconomic status, smoking and alcohol habits, excessive caffeine consumption and sleep quality, she talked about the relationship between intensive technology use and smartphone use, which makes our lives easier and sometimes enjoyable in many areas, and smartphone addiction and poor sleep quality. He stated that in studies conducted on sleep in adolescents and university students, some significant relationships indicated that poor sleep quality was more common in those with smartphone addiction or excessive smartphone use. Although the cause-effect relationships between mobile phone usage characteristics and smartphone addiction and sleep quality are not fully clear, those with smartphone addiction are forced to stay awake due to the stimulating effect of smartphone excessive use and experience sleep disruptions, before falling asleep due to smartphone use. Difficulty in sleeping and interruptions in sleep due to exposure to excessive stimuli just before and during sleep, decrease in melatonin hormone release due to exposure to the screen light of the smartphone delays the circadian rhythm, internet and social media use from the smartphone causes having to sleep less than the required daily sleep time. "It can be thought that smartphone addiction may be a risk factor for poor sleep quality, such as having sleep disruptions due to the curiosity created by using social media via smartphones," she said.
The event ended by answering the questions from the students.
