Posted on June 24, 2010

Depression among high school students could be the result of a number of things, including the pressures of their environment, the changes involved in puberty and even an unhappy life at home. Now, new research suggests that depression among this age group could simply be the result of daytime sleepiness.

A recent Science Daily release examined a research abstract that suggests excessive daytime sleepiness presents a higher risk for depression among high school seniors. Results from this research suggest that high school seniors are three times more likely to experience strong symptoms of depression if they also have excessive daytime sleepiness.

Of the 136 study participants, 52 percent experienced excessive daytime sleepiness and 30 percent had strong symptoms of depression. Another 32 percent had some symptoms of depression. These findings suggest treatment needs to focus on depression among these students, as well as potential sleep disorders.

Sleep deprivation was another common factor among high school seniors. In fact, students in the study reported a mean total school night sleep of 6.1 hours. On the weekend that mean increased to 8.2 hours. Such times are considered too low as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests that these students need a little more than nine hours every night to be sufficiently alert during the day.

Studying this impact at the high school level is important. One lead researcher noted that a number of students are performing at sub-optimal levels as far as academic performance is concerned. Depression and sleep deprivation can also affect concentration and memory. Sleep problems and depression could be carrying over past high school, contributing to the decline of U.S. competitiveness in the global market.