Sleep schedules and daytime functioning in adolescents.
Sleep and waking behaviors change significantly during the adolescent years. The objective of this study was to describe the relation between adolescents' sleep/wake habits, characteristics of students (age, sex, school), and daytime functioning (mood, school performance, and behavior). A Sleep Habits Survey was administered in homeroom classes to 3,120 high school students at 4 public high schools from 3 Rhode Island school districts. Self-reported total sleep times (school and weekend nights) decreased by 40-50 min across ages 13-19, ps < .001. The sleep loss was due to increasingly later bedtimes, whereas rise times were more consistent across ages. Students who described themselves as struggling or failing school (C's, D's/F's) reported that on school nights they obtain about 25 min less sleep and go to bed an average of 40 min later than A and B students, ps < .001. In addition, students with worse grades reported greater weekend delays of sleep schedule than did those with better grades. Furthermore, this study examined a priori defined adequate sleep habit groups versus less than adequate sleep habit groups on their daytime functioning. Students in the short school-night total sleep group (< 6 hr 45 min) and/or large weekend bedtime delay group (> 120 min) reported increased daytime sleepiness, depressive mood, and sleep/wake behavior problems, ps < .05, versus those sleeping longer than 8 hr 15 min with less than 60 min weekend delay. Altogether, most of the adolescents surveyed do not get enough sleep, and their sleep loss interferes with daytime functioning.
Wolfson
A R
AR
College of the Holy Cross, Department of Psychology, Worcester, MA 01610, USA. AWolfson@Holycross.edu
Carskadon
M A
MA
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent / Q000502:physiology*; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012237:Rhode Island; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013997:Time Factors