Sleep is one of our bodies’ most important functions. It allows the body to repair and grow while the mind forms memories and processes emotions. The amount of time we sleep affects our general health, mental health, metabolism, heart, and life span.
Adolescence is a key period of development, growth, and change. This means that getting an adequate amount of sleep during this time is especially important. However, while scientists agree that adolescents need 8-10 hours of sleep to maintain proper health, many young people frequently sleep fewer hours.
This blog explores the causes and consequences of sleep deprivation in adolescents and outlines some of the most common sleep disorders that young people experience.
How Common Is Sleep Deprivation Among Adolescents?
Sleep deprivation is common among adolescents. In the US, data suggests that between 60% and 75% of students get less than 8 hours of sleep on a school night. Young people often report that they sleep for longer than in reality, so the actual number of sleep-deprived adolescents might be even less.
What Are the Consequences of Sleep Deprivation in Young People?
When adolescents don’t get enough sleep, it affects multiple aspects of their life. Lack of sleep is linked to mental health disorders including anxiety and depression. Research shows that sleeping less increases the risk of developing major depression, while depression, in turn, makes reduced sleep more likely.
Even among healthy adolescents, lack of sleep can impact their mood, emotional regulation, and behaviour. One study found that after one night without sleep, young people experienced significantly worse feelings of depression, anger, confusion, anxiety, vigour, and fatigue.
Lack of sleep also affects adolescents’ performance at school or university. Sleep deprivation is linked to important cognitive functions including memory and attention. Research has found that sleep deprivation is directly associated with decreased attention span and other cognitive functions over 1 week. The effects of consecutive nights of reduced sleep (such as getting 6 hours of sleep for multiple days) are cumulative, meaning that even moderate but consistent sleep deprivation can have the same effect as missing entire nights of sleep. Interestingly, adolescents’ perceptions of their sleepiness quickly leveled off, while their cognitive functions continued to decline.
Other research has found that long-term lack of sleep is linked to declining academic performance from middle school to university.
Researchers are still discovering more about the effects of sleep deprivation on adolescent well-being. It’s also connected to many other mental and physical functions, such as immune responses, growth, risk-taking, and impulsivity. All of these consequences highlight the importance of healthy sleeping patterns for teenagers and young adults.
What Are the Causes of Sleep Deprivation Among Adolescents?
For some young people, sleep deprivation is voluntary: they may choose to sleep less than 8 hours to take part in other activities, like socialising, working, or exercising.
However, many teenagers and young adults are unable to sleep for a healthy length of time, even when they want to. This might be because they find it hard to get to sleep, wake up early, or wake up for extended periods during the night.
There are many different causes of sleep deprivation, and some adolescents may be affected by multiple factors. Three of the most common include poor sleep hygiene, circadian rhythm disorders, and insomnia.
Poor Sleep Hygiene
The term sleep hygiene describes aspects of the sleeping environment and a young person’s behaviours that can affect the quality and length of sleep. These factors can usually be changed to improve a young person’s sleep.
Some aspects of good sleep hygiene include:
- having the same sleep schedule every night
- following a nighttime routine
- keeping the bedroom cool and quiet
- not disrupting sleep with light or screen time
- avoiding caffeine
In recent years, the use of technology among adolescents has continued to increase. Many young people use mobile phones, tablets, or laptops near bedtime and in bed, messaging friends, watching videos, or browsing the internet.
However, research clearly links screen-based activities to disruptions of sleep. This includes using social media before bed, sleeping with a mobile phone, and using screens late in the evening.
While it’s established that sleep hygiene is connected to disruptions in sleep, there is less evidence about the link between sleep hygiene and sleep disorders like insomnia. It’s still unclear which aspects of sleep hygiene (if any) may cause or contribute to insomnia – and which may help young people to recover from the disorder.
Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder
Certain changes happen to adolescent’s natural sleeping rhythms as they enter puberty. They start to take a longer time to fall asleep and find it easier to stay awake at night.
At the same time, their bodies start to release melatonin later in the day. Melatonin is a hormone that the body naturally releases as it gets dark and helps to regulate sleeping cycles, as well as other important functions such as appetite. When melatonin is released later, the onset of sleep is also delayed.
These physical changes mean that for some teenagers, their natural sleep cycles are out of sync with the requirements of school or work life. This can lead to delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (DSPD). Adolescents with DSPD are able to have a normal quality and length of sleep if they are allowed to, but they are persistently unable to because of the demands of their daily routine. Some studies suggest that around 1 in 7 adolescents may meet the criteria for DSPD.
Insomnia
Young people with insomnia don’t get enough quality sleep. This might be because they have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early. Insomnia affects the way adolescents feel and function during waking hours.
Insomnia is relatively common among adolescents. Prevalence estimates range from 7-40% depending on the criteria that researchers use.
Many adolescents with insomnia experience anxious or stressful thoughts that stop them from falling asleep, a condition known as psychophysiological insomnia (PI). Psychophysiological insomnia (PI) often involves negative associations with sleep that cause more anxious thoughts, perpetuating the condition.
What Treatments Are Available for Adolescents with Sleeping Disorders?
Sleeping disorders can have serious consequences for multiple aspects of young people’s lives. However, there are treatments available that may improve the quality and quantity of adolescents’ sleep and support them in recovering from a disorder.
Treating Delayed Sleep-Wake Disorder (DSPD)
Treatment for DSPD usually involves melatonin supplements and/or light exposure. Melatonin supplements help move forward the body’s natural sleep cycle, prompting the physical processes that lead to sleep at an earlier hour. It’s normally recommended for young people to take melatonin 4-6 hours before their current sleeping time.
Young people may also benefit from managing their exposure to light to shift their natural sleep-wake rhythms. This usually includes avoiding lights before bedtime and exposure to bright light in the morning.
Some experts suggest that school times should be changed to start and end later to fit with teenager’s natural sleep-wake rhythms. Data shows that delayed school start times may improve young people’s mood, increase total sleep time, reduce daytime sleepiness, and increase school attendance. However, changing school start times may also come with logistical challenges for parents coordinating school drop-offs with their working day.
Treating Insomnia in Young People
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi) is the most established treatment for insomnia. Over a decade of research has found that CBTi leads to both long-term and short-term improvements among adults with psychophysiological insomnia. While studies among adolescents are fewer, they suggest that CBTi is also effective for young people, improving their sleep and quality of life.
CBTi involves practical and helpful changes to thought and behavioural patterns that lead to improvements in sleep. This might include leaving bed if unable to sleep for 20 minutes or making a worry list sometime during the day to decrease anxious thoughts at night. CBTi usually involves a series of individual therapy sessions where young people learn and develop skills (although it can also be offered in groups).
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