Sleeping extra hours in on weekends is a proven way to reduce depressive symptoms in teens.
Weekend catch-up sleep for extra hours is an effective tool to manage teen depression and other mental health issues.
The data is based on a joint study by the University of Oregon and SUNY Upstate Medical University. The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.(1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Weekend catch-up sleep and depressive symptoms in late adolescence and young adulthood: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
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Experts found that young people aged 16-24, experiencing sleep debt crisis, who balanced their sleep in on weekends had a 41% reduced risk of depressive symptoms.
The findings highlight that the connection between sleep recovery and emotional health is often overlooked in adolescents. Therefore, sleep-ins are essential for lowering depression symptoms and improving teen mental health or overall well-being.
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Is your #teen_sleeping in? Here’s how weekend catch-up sleep cuts #sleep_debt and #depression risk by 41% and improves daily focus in teens. While 8-10 hours nightly is vital, those extra weekend hours are a mental health lifesaver!
#teensleep #mentalhealth #depressionprevention #sleepmedicine #psychology
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How School, Social Life, and After-School Jobs Fuel the Teen Sleep Deficit
The study provides the first glimpse into weekend catch-up sleep for typical U.S. adolescents. Previous studies focused on school-age teens in China and Korea.
It’s common for U.S. teens to rack up a sleep deficit during the week because of everything competing for their time and attention: school, social life, extracurricular activities, and often an after-school job.
“Sleep researchers and clinicians have long recommended that adolescents get eight to 10 hours of sleep at a regular time every day of the week, but that’s just not practical for a lot of adolescents, or people generally,” said Melynda Casement, a licensed psychologist, associate professor in the UO’s College of Arts and Sciences and director of the UO’s Sleep Lab.
She co-authored the paper with Jason Carbone, assistant professor of public health and preventive medicine and of family medicine at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.
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Weekend Sleep Recovery Acts as a Protective Shield Against Teen Depressive Symptom
Getting the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep each night is still ideal, the researchers emphasize. But if that’s not possible, then sleeping in on weekends may help lower the risk of symptoms of depression.
“It’s normal for teens to be night owls, so let them catch up on sleep on weekends if they can’t get enough sleep during the week because that’s likely to be somewhat protective,” Casement said.
In the study, researchers analyzed data on 16- to 24-year-olds from the 2021-23 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The young adults reported their bedtimes and wake-up times during the week and weekend, which researchers used to calculate their weekend catch-up sleep, the difference between the average sleep per weekend day and the average sleep per weekday.
Study participants also reported how they were feeling and were counted as having symptoms of depression when they reported feeling sad or depressed daily.
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Your Teen Isn’t Just Lazy, but Biologically Wired to Fall Asleep at 11 p.m.
Sleep cycles, known as circadian rhythms, start shifting in adolescence, making it harder for most teens to fall asleep as early as they did when they were younger.
“Instead of being a morning lark you’re going to become more of a night owl,” Casement explained. “And sleep onset keeps progressively delaying in adolescence until age 18 to 20. After that, you start becoming more morning larkish again.”
The typical sleep cycle for teenagers is to fall asleep around 11 p.m. and wake at 8 a.m. That conflicts with early start times at many U.S. high schools. As a result, many sleep scientists and health care providers support the public health campaign to start schools later.
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability among 16- to 24-year-olds, Casement said. In this context, disability is defined broadly as impairment of daily functioning, such as calling in sick or being late to work.
“It makes that age range of particular interest in trying to understand risk factors for depression and how those might relate to delivery of interventions,” Casement said.
Reference:
- Weekend catch-up sleep and depressive symptoms in late adolescence and young adulthood: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey – (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032725020555?via%3Dihub)
Source-Eurekalert
