Caffeine Consuming Children and Adolescents Show Altered Sleep Behavior and Deep Sleep.
Caffeine is the most commonly ingested psychoactive drug worldwide with increasing consumption rates among young individuals. While caffeine leads to decreased sleep quality in adults, studies investigating how caffeine consumption affects children's and adolescents' sleep remain scarce. We explored the effects of regular caffeine consumption on sleep behavior and the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) in children and adolescents (10-16 years). While later habitual bedtimes (Caffeine 23:14 ± 11.4, Controls 22:17 ± 15.4) and less time in bed were found in caffeine consumers compared to the control group (Caffeine 08:10 ± 13.3, Controls 09:03 ± 16.1), morning tiredness was unaffected. Furthermore, caffeine consumers exhibited reduced sleep EEG slow-wave activity (SWA, 1-4.5 Hz) at the beginning of the night compared to controls (20% ± 9% average reduction across all electrodes and subjects). Comparable reductions were found for alpha activity (8.25-9.75 Hz). These effects, however, disappeared in the morning hours. Our findings suggest that caffeine consumption in adolescents may lead to later bedtimes and reduced SWA, a well-established marker of sleep depth. Because deep sleep is involved in recovery processes during sleep, further research is needed to understand whether a caffeine-induced loss of sleep depth interacts with neuronal network refinement processes that occur during the sensitive period of adolescent development.
Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. aeplia@access.uzh.ch.
Andrina
A
Aepli
Sleep and Development Laboratory, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB Boulder, 80309 Boulder, CO, USA. salome.kurth@colorado.edu.
Salome
S
Kurth
Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. noemi.tesler@kispi.uzh.ch.|Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. noemi.tesler@kispi.uzh.ch.
Noemi
N
Tesler
Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. oskar.jenni@kispi.uzh.ch.|Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. oskar.jenni@kispi.uzh.ch.
Oskar G
OG
Jenni
Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. reto.huber@kispi.uzh.ch.|Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. reto.huber@kispi.uzh.ch.|Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. reto.huber@kispi.uzh.ch.|University Clinics for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, 8029 Zurich, Switzerland. reto.huber@kispi.uzh.ch.
Reto
R
Huber
adolescents; caffeine; children; development; sleep EEG topography; slow-wave activity