Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well-being of high school students

Sleeping difficulties are increasingly prevalent among adolescents worldwide and have negative consequences for adolescent health and education. The aim of this study was to describe the reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents. Sleeping difficulties include insufficient sleep, trouble falling asleep, waking up at night or sleep that does not leave an individual rested. Data were collected in 2015 using an open-ended question. The sample consisted of n = 475 adolescents from a city in Sweden, aged 15-16 years, with self-assessed sleeping difficulties. The results described the reasons for the adolescents' sleeping difficulties, at a general, thematic level, as an imbalance between requirements and preconditions, distributed to stress, technology use, poor sleep habits, existential thoughts, needs and suffering. To find a balance in their daily lives, adolescents may need support from parents, school nurses and school health services to deal with their sleeping difficulties.

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“…However, Marx et al. indicated that research could not determine the effects of later school start times because the evidence base was limited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

Jakobsson

Josefsson

Högberg

2019

Scandinavian Caring Sciences

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“…Nonetheless, the discussed results emphasize an overall positive effect following this policy change. Marx and colleagues [130] proposed two distinct explanations underlying the widespread benefits of school start time interventions; one refers to the net increase of amount or quality of sleep, and the other is related to the existence of an optimal time of day for vigilance and learning potential.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Later School Start Time: The Impact of Sleep on Academic Performance and Health in the Adolescent Population

Alfonsi

Scarpelli

D’Atri

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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The crucial role of sleep in physical and mental health is well known, especially during the developmental period. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in examining the relationship between sleep patterns and school performance in adolescents. At this stage of life, several environmental and biological factors may affect both circadian and homeostatic regulation of sleep. A large part of this population does not experience adequate sleep, leading to chronic sleep restriction and/or disrupted sleep-wake cycles. Studies investigating the effects of different sleep-wake schedules on academic achievement showed that impaired sleep quality and quantity are associated with decreased learning ability and compromised daytime functioning. This review focuses on the most recent studies that evaluated the effects of modified school start time on sleep patterns and related outcomes. Moreover, based on the available empirical evidence, we intend to propose a direction for future studies targeted to implement prevention or treatment programs by modifying sleep timing.

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“…Previous studies by Wolfson and Wahlstrom concluded that delaying school start time has significant benefits in terms of sleep duration [ 20 , 21 ]. However, a review by Marx et al recently concluded that the effect of the later school start times could not be determined due to limited, and generally low quality, evidence [ 11 ]. In Korea, opponents of the campaign also predicted that, although the school start times would be delayed, students would simply have delayed circadian cycles, due to their having the same schooling and private tutoring.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A 25–60-min delay in school start time increased total sleep time by 25–77 min [ 10 ]. However, these studies were limited by poorly defined control groups, small sample sizes, and especially, short observation periods [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of school time on sleep duration and sleepiness in adolescents

Rhie

Chae

2018

PLoS ONE

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Delaying the time of start of school allows for longer sleep duration, better mood, and better school performance. In South Korea, a campaign was launched in 2014 to delay the school start time to 9 a.m. We analyzed the campaign’s effects on adolescents’ total sleep duration, sleepiness (presented as weekend catch-up sleep), emotions, and school performance. Based on data from 2013, changes of sleep patterns, emotions, and academic achievement in adolescents were evaluated using the 2012–2016 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based survey from two educational districts: Gyeonggi (fully participated in the delayed school start time campaign; intervention group) and Daegu/Gyeongbuk/Ulsan (DGU, never participated; control group). The primary outcomes were sleep duration, time of sleep onset, and difference in sleep duration between weekdays and the weekend. Secondary outcomes were the proportional changes of mood, stress, and school performance. The sleep duration of students in the intervention group temporarily increased in 2015. However, because there was a simultaneous delay in time of sleep onset, sleep duration returned to pre-campaign levels in 2016. Although sleep duration did not increase, weekend catch-up sleep decreased by approximately 19 minutes for students in the intervention group. Meanwhile, in the control group sleep duration tended to decrease over the same period. The impact of the campaign on students' emotions and school performance could not be confirmed. This study demonstrated that delaying the school start time to 9 a.m. reduced duration of weekend catch-up sleep with a transient increase in sleep duration in adolescents.

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Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well-being of high school students

Abstract: Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well-being of high school students.

Cited by 57 publications

References 68 publications

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

Later School Start Time: The Impact of Sleep on Academic Performance and Health in the Adolescent Population

Effects of school time on sleep duration and sleepiness in adolescents

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