Teens Will Be Happier If We Let Them Sleep In

Moody, sleepy, uncooperative, disinterested? Typical traits of a teenager, or so we’ve been told.

However, the results of a new study have suggested that these negative characteristics are not an inevitable part of the adolescent phase. Rather, the amount and quality of sleep have a large part to play in regulating mood and contributing to depression and anxiety.

The study, led by Professor Jack Peltz at the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, suggests that teenagers who start school before 8:30am may be at a greater risk of experiencing depression and anxiety.

Almost 200 American students aged 14 to 17 took part in the study. The students were divided into two groups: those who start school before 8:30 am and those who start school after that time. The teenagers were asked to complete a sleep diary. They recorded the duration and quality of sleep, daily psychological functioning, sleep routines, and school start times.

The students who arrived at school later than 8:30am had fewer depression and anxiety symptoms than those who started earlier, the study concluded.

According to the researchers, around 90 percent of high-school aged adolescents don’t get the required eight to ten hours of sleep on week nights which are needed for health functioning.

A previous study from American Academy of Sleep Medicine found later school start times are better for adolescents.

Despite previous calls for high schools to change their start times to later than 8.30am, only 14 percent have done so.