The challenges of adolescent sleep

Abstract

Sleep is vital for our physical, emotional and cognitive health. However, adolescents face many challenges where their sleep is concerned. This is reflected in their sleep patterns including the timing of their sleep and how much sleep they achieve on a regular basis: their sleep is characteristically delayed and short. Notably, insufficient sleep is associated with impairments in adolescent functioning. Endogenous and exogenous factors are known to affect sleep at this age. Alterations in the bioregulation of sleep, comprising the circadian timing system and the sleep/wake homeostatic system, represent the intrinsic mechanisms at work. Compounding this, environmental, psychosocial and lifestyle factors may contribute to shortened sleep. This review discusses the amount of sleep gained by adolescents and its implications, the challenges to adolescent sleep and the interventions introduced in an effort to prioritize sleep health in this important developmental period.

Sleep and stress

“…Although sleep was held to be of primary importance for health, its performance, it was argued, should be temperate: 'slug a beds' (or sluggards) were roundly criticized, and good sleep habits for the young were seen as the foundation of self-discipline and moderation. The paper speaks directly to that by Illingworth [13] on current work with teenagers on the Teen Sleep project.…”

“…Foster's [20] call for direct action is addressed, in part, by Illingworth's [13] paper on adolescent sleep, which explores recent scientific findings with regard to circadian physiology in adolescence, and highlights the general levels of sleep deprivation amidst this age group, and the bidirectional relationship between mental health and sleep loss in teenagers. The paper outlines some of the practical measures that have been taken to address these issues, from curtailing evening screen use, to experimenting with later school start times.…”

“…The paper outlines some of the practical measures that have been taken to address these issues, from curtailing evening screen use, to experimenting with later school start times. Another option Illingworth [13] outlines is using a sleep education programme to persuade teenagers to go to bed earlier. A level of scepticism rightly underlies her observation, however, that improved sleep practices might be difficult to maintain.…”

“…Goodwin [21], a psychiatrist, argues strongly for both genetic predisposition and environmental adversity as factors in the onset of severe depression in the young. Like Illingworth [13], he is concerned with patterns of sleep in adolescence, but here in relation to the emergence of major depressive episodes and their possible prevention by early intervention. Sleep disruption, he suggests, is a neutral symptom, which it is easier for a person to acknowledge than emerging feelings of low mood.…”

“…With the UK's departure from the European Union, and the question of whether we will continue to abide by the European Working Time Directive still to be resolved, the findings of recent sleep research take on political urgency. As Illingworth [13] points out, the UK has identified a reduction in sleep deprivation as a public health priority, while, in Australia, the total royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsfs Interface Focus 10: 20200016 annual cost of inadequate sleep was estimated to be $66.3 billion in 2016-2017 (https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/ files/Asleep_on_the_job/Asleep_on_the_Job_SHF_report-WEB_ small.pdf, August 2017). Despite this growing appreciation of the impact of sleep loss, the mechanisms by which these problems will be addressed remain unresolved.…”