Bedtime May Save a Teenager

By Miss Cellania in Science & Tech on Jan 1, 2010 at 5:24 pm

Teenagers need more sleep than other age groups; nine hours is recommended. But many only get seven or even fewer hours of sleep each night. A recent study found that adolescents whose parents set an early bedtime for them had fewer bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts than those whose parents set a later bedtime. Most adolescents in the study complied with set bedtimes, getting to bed an average of five minutes later.

Results show that adolescents with parental set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to suffer from depression (odds ratio = 1.24) and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal ideation (OR=1.20) than adolescents with parental set bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier. This association was appreciably attenuated by self-reported sleep duration and the perception of getting enough sleep. Adolescents who reported that they usually sleep for five or fewer hours per night were 71 percent more likely to suffer from depression (OR=1.71) and 48 percent more likely to think about committing suicide (OR=1.48) than those who reported getting eight hours of nightly sleep. Participants who reported that they “usually get enough sleep” were significantly less likely to suffer from depression (OR=0.35) and suicidal ideation (OR=0.71).

The researchers in this study say there are several ways sleep deprivation can lead to depression. Link -via reddit

(image credit: Flickr user Carlos 57)


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  1. wow
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    well hey, keep waking these kids up at 5 or 6 am for school and see how much sleep they get….

  2. Natey
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    I have no idea how I got through high school with my sleep schedule.

    I’d have 5am track/x-country practice before school, then more running practice after school, and it wasn’t unusual for me to stay up ’till 4am on weeknights.

    I guess I just took a bunch of naps. I was never depressed, thankfully!

  3. Miss Cellania
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    I had a school night bedtime of 10:30 all the way through high school. I often read in bed though, so I still didn’t get enough sleep.

    Lights out for my 11- and 12-year-olds is 9:30 on school nights. They hate it, but they need it. The 16-year-old can stay up until 11, but he’s usually asleep before then. And he takes naps, too.

  4. zook
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    Here’s why this could be nonsense. All over Asia, kids stay up doing homework until 2 AM. They get up at 7 and go to school and stay up again until 2 AM. This study apparently doesn’t control for HOW the time is spent. Kids who are up doing homework (like mine often is–not until 2, but until 11 or 11:30), may be quite different from kids up watchhing TV, chatting on line,hanging out, etc.

  5. Alex
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    I’ve always thought that high school should start at 11 and end at 7pm. That would’ve made me so much happier!

    @zook: nothing kills creativity faster than homework. I was so much more productive in the US education system rather than an Asian one, which emphasized rote memorization above everything else.

  6. KrisT
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    There are biological process that can only occur during certain sleep cycles, regardless of what is done while awake.

  7. Bobblehead
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 10:01 pm

    There is one thing that this study neglects to mention: that it is entirely possible and actually is likely that there is something to the relationship between the parents setting a bed time and the teenagers actually complying with it that is MUCH more likely to be the cause of the decreased depression and suicidal tendencies than a bed-time. Teens need limits in order to feel like parents care. This is what this study is demonstrating; limits effecting a teen’s mood/behavior rather than something as concrete as an early bed-time. If you don’t believe me then don’t set limits for your teen; I’ll see them at my psych facility in a year or two.

  8. Padraig
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Ummm, is it normal nowadays for schoolkids and students to wake up at 5 AM? Or how come the >00:00
    + 5h = 5 AM just doesn’t work out for me? I mean, hello? When does school start? At 6 AM? O.o

    This might be statistically accurate, but mathematically it’s nonsense…

  9. RightState
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    “All over Asia, kids stay up doing homework until 2 AM. ”

    And Asia leads the world in suicide… so you are saying… ?

  10. zook
    Jan 1st, 2010 at 11:33 pm

    @RightState

    Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

    and you’ll see that’s not exactly true. Rates in China, for example, are comparable to Canada. Many Euro countries are much higher than many Asian countries. And look at India….same kind of “Asian” education system, rates comparable to or lower than US.

  11. Meals
    Jan 2nd, 2010 at 2:09 am

    Maybe lack of sleep is a contributing factor, but more likely- the parents who don’t care about bedtimes are depressed themselves or not very involved with their children.

  12. Skipweasel
    Jan 2nd, 2010 at 6:03 am

    Booblehead – yup, I wonder how they controlled to seperate cause from effect. I’ve a feeling that this whole study may be putting the cart before the horse.

    Our twelve year old is in bed 10.30 on school nights, but he’s free to read until he drops off.

  13. Shen
    Jan 2nd, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Nah… tahts just because Emos likes to think they are nocturnal, thats all.

  14. Justin
    Jan 2nd, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    This doesn’t surprise me. I know I had a crappy sleep schedule all through high school until my senior year. Then, for some reason, I started going to bed at 10 and waking up at 6 on weekdays. I felt a lot more alert and did better in school even though the amount of sleep I was getting remained the same.

    I guess it’s better not to fight our body.

  15. Leokins
    Jan 3rd, 2010 at 1:00 am

    Alex: “I’ve always thought that high school should start at 11 and end at 7pm. That would’ve made me so much happier!”

    I was lucky enough to have 12 to 6 classes last semester, college can be great that way. High school would have definitely been much more productive for me with those sorts of hours.

  16. whitcwa
    Jan 3rd, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Bobblehead said what I thought when I first saw this story. I have seen it in several places and none of them mention the parent/child relationship even though they all clearly mention the bedtime was set by the parents. Whatever the reason, my 16year old daughter just told us she’ll be going to bed earlier because of this study! We’ll see how long it lasts.


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