Is Your Teen Getting Enough Sleep?

Is your teen getting enough sleep?

A new study says many teens are not and the consequences can be serious. 

You survived all the sleep issues of infancy only to realize that your teen’s sleep habits are now out of wack. Experts say most teens are not getting enough sleep and sustained sleep-deprivation can lead to more than puffy, dark circles under the eyes and nodding off during math class. Not that those are desirable traits.

How much is enough?

So, just how much sleep should a teen get? While the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends 9 hours of sleep for your teen, the average teen usually logs 7 hours and 53 minutes. Some adolescents log much less than that on a regular basis. America is experiencing a sleep crisis, and our teens are part of that equation.

The sleep-deprivation downside

Researchers at (AASM) have recently seen a correlation between sleep-deprivation and increased depression, as well as suicidal thoughts. The adolescents who reported getting five or fewer hours per night were 71 percent more likely to suffer from depression and 48 percent were more likely to think about committing suicide than those who reported getting eight hours of nightly sleep.

What gives?

While researchers aren’t exactly sure why this is, the thinking is that decreased sleep reduces a teen’s coping abilities to deal with stressors, increases impulsiveness, and affects judgment and concentration. These factors can then all combine to lead to depression. The depression may then lead to hopelessness and thoughts of suicide.

An interesting finding was that teens who were prone to experience depression brought on by sleep-deprivation, often had later parental-imposed bedtimes (12 am bedtimes) and also had a lower self-perception of their parents caring for them.

What’s a parent to do?

While sleep alone isn’t a cure-all for mood disorders, ensuring that your teen gets an adequate amount of shut-eye just may be a preventative factor. They won’t admit it (it’s part of the teen code), but knowing that you care enough to enforce this bedtime is also a protective factor.