Light Exposure Profiles Among Students: Exploring Adherence to Light Hygiene Recommendations and Implications for Sleep

Light can have a profound impact on human sleep and daytime functioning. Therefore, adopting and maintaining healthy light hygiene is essential. This study employed ecological momentary assessment to investigate 24/7 light exposure profiles within a student sample. Adherence to the recent recommendations for healthy light exposure profiles by Brown et al. [1] was inspected. Additionally, we explored associations between the degree of adherence to these recommendations and sleep. The results showed substantial interindividual and intraindividual differences in daily light exposure profiles, with frequent instances of non-adherence to the recommendations. Light exposure during the daytime (in time above 250 m-EDI lux) predicted sleep quality during the subsequent night on weekend days. Methodological challenges and opportunities are discussed.