Parents aren't powerless when it comes to sleep-deprived teenagers
January 9, 2020
Science Daily/University of Rochester
Teenagers in the US simply don't get enough shut eye. The consequences of this epidemic of sleep deprivation are extensive and include increasing rates of anxiety and depression among adolescents, as well as suicidal thoughts and actions. Sleep-deprived teens are more likely to be involved in car crashes, and run a higher risk of injury during sports-related activities.
Experts have pointed to various reasons for the chronic teenage sleep deficit: growing homework loads, too many extra-curricular activities, caffeine consumption, school start times that run counter to middle and high schoolers' natural circadian rhythms, and the use of electronic devices and backlit screens, which may disrupt sleep patterns, before bedtime.
But researchers at the University of Rochester have found that a simple and timeworn solution yields solid results: a clear bedtime that parents consistently adhere to.
"Greater enforcement of parent-set bedtimes for teenagers aged 14-to-17 are associated with longer sleep duration," says Jack Peltz, lead author of a recent study, which was published in the academic journal Sleep. Peltz, now an assistant professor of psychology at Daemen College, earned his PhD in psychology at Rochester in 2013 and conducted the study as part of a research appointment at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Department of Psychiatry.
Study participants included teenagers and their parents. The team asked their teenage participants to keep twice-daily sleep diary entries over seven days, collecting reports of sleep duration, daytime energy levels, and depressive symptoms. Parents, meanwhile, provided information about their enforcement of sleep-related rules and bedtimes.
Among the key findings:
Parent-enforced bedtimes -- along with later school start times -- are the greatest predictors of sleep duration, daytime energy level, and depressive symptoms.
More than 50 percent of parent respondents reported no specific or enforced bedtime rules, consistent with rates measured in previous research across families in the US.
Evening screen time and caffeine consumption did not, contrary to the researchers' hypotheses, significantly affect teenagers' sleep duration over the course of the study.
In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics responded to the sleep deprivation epidemic by urging school districts to start classes no earlier than 8:30 am, especially for middle and high schoolers. But to date, only about 14 percent of US high schools have heeded the recommendation, which makes the rule-setting role of parents all the more important.
The researchers acknowledge that setting a bedtime for teenagers might be difficult; but their results suggest that even with pre-bedtime conflict, parents' enforcement of bedtimes yielded better mental health outcomes for their offspring. That said -- "ideally parents should be able to work collaboratively with their teenagers to develop bedtimes that still support the child's autonomy," says Peltz.
The bottom line, according to coauthor Ronald Rogge, an associate professor of psychology at Rochester, is that "even though adolescents start gaining self-sufficiency and independence, they still need sleep and might not prioritize that if left to their own devices."
Absent an iron-clad rule, there are nevertheless healthy ranges, says Heidi Connolly, a professor of pediatrics and chief of the Division of Pediatric Sleep Medicine at Rochester, who is also a coauthor of the study. Most teenagers need 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night, she says, mirroring recommendations made by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
As for an appropriate bedtime, that of course depends on the wake-up time. "It's inherently more difficult for teenagers to fall asleep earlier than later because of their circadian rhythm," says Connolly. "That's why it's so important for high school start times to be later, as the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended across the board."
The ideal is to feel well rested during the daytime, and spontaneously awaken at around your scheduled wake-up time even when allowed to sleep in.
The team notes that future studies may be necessary to determine if their findings hold true across a range of populations; they caution that their sample was predominantly white, well-educated, and economically advantaged.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200109130203.htm
Lack of sleep may increase likelihood of teens engaging in risky sexual behaviors
Majority of teens were not getting recommended amount of sleep, study finds
June 3, 2019
Science Daily/American Psychological Association
Teenagers who don't get enough sleep may be at an increased risk of engaging in unsafe sexual behaviors, such as not using condoms or having sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
"Teens by and large are not getting the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep a night, due to a number of reasons, including biological changes in circadian rhythms, early school start times, balancing school and extracurricular activities and peer social pressures" said Wendy M. Troxel, PhD, a RAND Corporation senior behavioral and social scientist and lead author of the study published in the journal Health Psychology. "Insufficient sleep may increase the potential for sexual risk-taking by compromising decision-making and influencing impulsivity."
Troxel and her co-authors, all from RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution, analyzed data from a large, long-term study of 1,850 racially and ethnically diverse adolescents and young adults in Southern California. The data were collected four times between 2013 and 2017. Participants were, on average, 16 years old in 2013 and 19 years old in 2017.
The teens reported their sleep schedules on weekdays and weekends and whether they had trouble sleeping in the four weeks prior to filling out the survey. The participants also reported whether they used alcohol, marijuana or other drugs right before or during sexual activity and whether they used condoms.
The teens were grouped based on their sleep patterns over the four-year period, including weekday sleep duration, weekend sleep duration, differences in sleep patterns between weekdays and weekends, and sleep quality.
The majority of teens were classified as intermediate weekday sleepers, who got an average of 7.5 hours of sleep per school night, which is below the recommended sleep duration for this age group. There was also a group of teens, called short weekday sleepers, who got well below the recommended sleep duration, with 6.35 hours per school night. Only 26% of teens could be classified as sufficient weekday sleepers, averaging about 8.5 hours per night, according to Troxel.
As for the weekends, most teens in the study were intermediate weekend sleepers, clocking in just over nine hours, while long weekend sleepers netted an average of 10.6 hours and short weekend sleepers got an average of 7.8 hours, said Troxel.
Previous research has shown that irregular sleep patterns (e.g., sleeping in on weekends) can put teens at risk for negative health outcomes. Therefore, Troxel and her colleagues expected that teens who slept in on the weekends to make up for lost sleep during the week would show greater sexual risk-taking than those who had a more consistent sleeping routine.
Contrary to what they predicted, the researchers found that adolescents who were short weekday and short weekend sleepers (i.e., those who consistently did not get enough sleep) were nearly two times more likely to engage in unsafe sex than those who slept in, on average, an extra 3.5 hours on weekends.
"Teens who were short weekday and short weekend sleepers were not getting adequate sleep during the school week and were not catching up on sleep on the weekends, and thus were chronically sleep-deprived," said Troxel.
The researchers did not find that sleep quality had any effect on risky sexual behavior.
While this study could not make a direct link between sleep quality and sexual behaviors, it adds to a growing body of research about the potential role of sleep disturbances and adolescent risk-taking behaviors, Troxel said.
"Sexual risk-taking in adolescence poses serious health concerns, such as an increased potential of getting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV," she said.
Troxel acknowledged that the findings pose a significant challenge for parents, clinicians and policymakers.
"On one hand, we should encourage sleep routines for teens because regularity is important for maintaining healthy sleep and circadian rhythms," she said. "However, for most U.S. teens, whose weekday sleep opportunities are constrained due to early school start times, maintaining consistency in sleep-wake schedules throughout the week may not only be unrealistic, but also may be unhealthy, if it perpetuates a pattern of chronic sleep deprivation."
Troxel suggested possible strategies that may help teens get the sleep their bodies need.
"Our recommendation is for parents and teens to find a middle ground, which allows for some weekend catch-up sleep, while maintaining some level of consistency in sleep-wake patterns," she said. "We also need to encourage school districts to consider delaying school start times because this could make a substantial difference in helping teens get adequate sleep."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190603102600.htm