An NIH study of over 15,000 teenagers shows a link between sleep and mental health. “Teens whose parents let them stay up after midnight on weeknights have a much higher chance of being depressed or suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime,” notes USA Today’s Greg Toppo.
The findings are the first to examine bedtimes’ effects on kids’ mental health — and the results are noteworthy. Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don’t require them to be in bed before midnight on school nights are 42% more likely to be depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier bedtime. And teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30% more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year. The differences are smaller but still significant — 25% and 20%, respectively — after controlling for age, sex, race and ethnicity.
Going to bed after midnight on weeknights reportedly increases the risk of depression by 42%. The lead researcher, Columbia University Medical Center’s James Gangwisch, says the takeaway for parents is “try as much as possible to sell teenagers on the importance of getting enough sleep.”
Hey, it’s his study, but I have to wonder: Perhaps the difference-maker isn’t the sleep, but having a bedtime? Is it possible that parents who set rules and routines for their children such asregular bedtimes are more involved in their kids’ lives? Maybe their kids are less likely to feel adrift and depressed as a result.
I was thinking the same thing about what the underlying casual factor might be.
But I think its also possible that the casual connection goes the other way — teens with untreated psychological issues are a pretty destabilizing influence on families.
Comment by Rachel — June 9, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
The education establishment has a decades-long history of confusing correlation with causation.
My swimmer started getting up at 4 am for practice at age 9 – her request- and was doing that 5 times a week by age 12, plus afternoon practices. One of my soccer players, as a high schooler, was doing some games at midnight (1 1/2 hours away) and getting up at 5 am for some practices, besides plenty of other games and practices. Both used naps and staggered bedtimes, took a full AP class schedule, started college as sophomores and had/have no emotional problems. This was also true of their team mates who had the same schedules. I am therefore wary of making absolute statements about the desirability of x or y schedule, as long as the child is the one choosing – and enjoying – it. Not everyone will agree; I have been told by other parents that allowing the early-morning practices and other elite-level crazy schedules was child abuse (cue catcalls from my kids).
Comment by momof4 — June 10, 2009 @ 12:25 pm
A lack of sleep just doesn’t increase rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. Several studies presented at Sleep 2007, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, highlighted some of the adverse effects caused by lack of sleep — aggressive behavior and bullying, poor grades, poor attention span, disruptions in cognitive and linguistic function including the skills necessary for reading and language development. A few scientists theorize that sleep problems at a young age can cause permanent changes in a child’s brain structure.
Comment by Kelsey Parker — June 10, 2009 @ 3:12 pm
Start school later and let them sleep!
Comment by tft — June 10, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Start school later and let them sleep!
Comment by john thompson — June 11, 2009 @ 8:47 am
Momof4,
If most of the kids not getting enough sleep were doing it because they were dedicating so many hours to sports or other achievements, I don’t think people would be concerned. Most kids aren’t getting enough sleep because they are texting or surfing the web or talking on their cell phones till 1 or 2 in the morning. This has gotten dramatically worse over the course of my kids lives – with the 28 yo, a few kids in high school stayed up late playing video games. With my younger ones, 20 and 18, most of their classmates were still online, chatting, past midnight. I think Robert has a point about kids having parents who enforce guidelines (and bedtimes). Don’t let your kids have tvs, video games, and computers in their rooms, limit their cell phone minutes and text messages, and expect them to get enough sleep, and they (mostly) will.
Comment by Munn5 — June 11, 2009 @ 10:48 am
I think high school students don’t get enough sleep because school starts very early in the morning (in many districts) and it’s hard on a practical level to be in bed by 9:30pm, in a world where most people go to sleep around 11pm.
Comment by Attorney DC — June 11, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
There’s an infinite number of reasons why kids don’t get to sleep early. Plenty are working past midnight. Plenty have to get siblings off to school. Plenty are dealing with family members who are gravely ill. Plenty have a single mom who has to send kids across town to different schools because one child is on a fast track to break out of poverty and attends a magnet, while another child has been kicked out of schools that are closer, while another is afraid of the violence in the neighborhood school, and for reasons in between. Some kids are working too much so they can indulge in materialism, support their cell phone and their car, etc. Others are supporting their family.
We’ll never be able to inventory and blame everyone for their role in 1st hour underachievement. Let’s move on. This should be the easiest opportunity to escape from the blame game, and its the biggest educational problem with the easiest solutions.
Comment by john thompson — June 11, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
And I meant to say also, that I bet depression – which is pervasive in our schools for both biological and cultural resons – is both a cause of the sleep loss and the poor parenting and the difficult situations parents are in and it is something that is worsened by all of the above.
Comment by john thompson — June 11, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
John Thompson speaks for me….frequently!
Comment by tft — June 11, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
If you start school later, they will stay up later. The internet’s open 24/7.
The evidence I’ve seen is persuasive–we need sleep to function well. Students should learn and practice those habits which will support success in adult life. Getting enough sleep to remain healthy is a basic skill.
For a family, setting a regular bedtime is easy, compared to other challenges in daily life.
Comment by Parent2 — June 11, 2009 @ 11:19 pm