Sleep apps help some users, but they stress out people with insomnia
Apps designed to improve sleep may increase stress in people with insomnia symptoms, study finds
Do you track your sleep? The increasing availability of sleep monitoring apps, and rising interest in sleep health, has led to a sharp increase in people tracking their rest. But these apps might not give people an accurate image of their sleep, and they could be making it harder for people to rest. Now scientists studying the use of sleep apps in Norway have found that while the apps helped some people, those who reported insomnia experienced more negative effects.
“The rapid development of sleep app technology requires the scientific community to keep up with technological advances,” said Håkon Lundekvam Berge of the University of Bergen, first author of the article in Frontiers in Psychology. “We found that younger adults were more affected by the feedback from the sleep apps. They reported more perceived benefits, but also more worries and stress.”
“We also found that people with insomnia symptoms were more susceptible to negative effects,” added second author Karl Erik Lundekvam of the University of Bergen. “Feedback from the sleep apps was more likely to cause stress and worry in this group.”
The science of snoozing
Although sleep apps vary, they usually claim to measure how long it takes someone to fall asleep, how long they sleep for, and how restorative their sleep is. Because these apps are so new, we need more research to understand how accurate they are and how different groups of people react to them: for example, we don’t know how the apps’ feedback might affect people of different ages. Additionally, some scientists suggest that excessive monitoring could lead to orthosomnia, where focusing too much on sleep data leads to worse sleep.
To investigate this, the scientists surveyed 1,002 adults living in Norway. They asked about respondents’ use of sleep apps, their current sleep health, and to say whether they experienced specific positive or negative effects of the sleep apps.
46% of the people who replied to the survey said that they used, or had used, sleep apps. Women and participants under 50 were more likely to say they had used sleep apps than men or older cohorts. While men and women responded similarly to the apps, younger users reported stronger effects than older people.
Positive effects were reported more often than negative effects. 15% of respondents said the apps improved their sleep, while 2.3% of respondents reported worse sleep. The most common benefit was learning more about one’s sleep (48% of participants), whereas the most common negative effect was worrying more about sleep (17% of participants). Importantly, people with insomnia symptoms were more likely to report negative effects.
“Persons displaying insomnia symptoms may be more vulnerable to negative feedback, which can potentially worsen sleep-related anxiety or stress,” said Lundekvam Berge. “Awareness of these tendencies is essential before using such apps.”
A good night’s sleep?
The researchers point out that their research has some limitations. Self-reported measures aren’t always completely accurate, and the participants were drawn from a group who had volunteered for scientific research. This could mean that they were already especially interested in sleep, so they might respond differently to the apps than others. But if you use a sleep app and are worried about your sleep, the scientists do have some suggestions.
“We would urge people who get more stressed by using sleep apps to learn more about which measures they use and how accurate they are,” advised Lundekvam. “If this does not calm your worries, you should consider taking off your sleep app device during the nighttime or turning off notifications. We encourage sleep app users to use the feedback as motivation to create helpful sleeping habits. For instance, minimize screen time before bedtime.”
“We would also encourage people to listen to their body and go to bed when you actually feel tired,” added Lundekvam Berge. “The bed and the bedroom should be associated with sleep, and going to bed before your body is ready to sleep will cause you to lie awake in bed, and this may exacerbate your sleep problems further. It is more beneficial to go to bed when your need for sleep actually requires it.”
Journal
Frontiers in Psychology
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Sleep in the age of technology: The use of sleep apps and perceived impact on sleep and sleep habits
Article Publication Date
20-Mar-2026
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