According to the CDC researchers, many teenagers are affected by chronic sleep deprivation due to several variable factors, including employment, academics, social, economic, and recreational pressure, as well as biological and family issues. Additionally, sleep deprivation is a common symptom in several mental health conditions, such as major depression and suicidal ideation. In their study, published in the scientific journal Preventive Medicine, lead research Lela McKnight-Eily and colleagues evaluated the prevalence of sleep deprivation among high school students and its correlations to other significant health-risk factors.

Using the 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), the researchers analyzed the responses of 12,154 public and private high school students from across the nation regarding their personal health and behaviors. Based on the report’s findings, the researchers discovered that the majority of high school students (nearly 70%) are not receiving the recommended eight hours of sleep per school night. These sleep-deprived students were also more likely than those who reported sufficient sleep to engage in multiple risky behaviors. Students with insufficient sleep reported higher rates of current alcohol use, current cigarette use, current marijuana use, current sexual activity, experiencing serious suicidal thoughts, experiencing sad or hopeless feelings, and getting into one or more physical fights per year. In addition, sleep-deprived students reported higher rates of physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits.

According to McKnight-Eily and her team, sleep-deprived students have a higher propensity toward risky behaviors due to a decreased ability to comprehend the consequences of negative behaviors as well as an increased receptiveness to peer pressure. Likewise, the combination of sleep deprivation and substance use can significantly hinder motor skills like concentration, alertness, and coordination. This negative combination puts these adolescents at greater risk of further risky behaviors, including heightened recklessness, sexual activity, and injury.

Based on the study’s results and the prevalence of insufficient sleep among teenagers, the researchers assert that more awareness needs to be placed on adolescents’ healthy sleeping habits in order to encourage healthier lifestyles during their crucial developmental years.

According to the CDC researchers, many teenagers are affected by chronic sleep deprivation due to several variable factors, including employment, academics, social, economic, and recreational pressure, as well as biological and family issues. Additionally, sleep deprivation is a common symptom in several mental health conditions, such as major depression and suicidal ideation. In their study, published in the scientific journal Preventive Medicine, lead research Lela McKnight-Eily and colleagues evaluated the prevalence of sleep deprivation among high school students and its correlations to other significant health-risk factors.

Using the 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), the researchers analyzed the responses of 12,154 public and private high school students from across the nation regarding their personal health and behaviors. Based on the report’s findings, the researchers discovered that the majority of high school students (nearly 70%) are not receiving the recommended eight hours of sleep per school night. These sleep-deprived students were also more likely than those who reported sufficient sleep to engage in multiple risky behaviors. Students with insufficient sleep reported higher rates of current alcohol use, current cigarette use, current marijuana use, current sexual activity, experiencing serious suicidal thoughts, experiencing sad or hopeless feelings, and getting into one or more physical fights per year. In addition, sleep-deprived students reported higher rates of physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits.

According to McKnight-Eily and her team, sleep-deprived students have a higher propensity toward risky behaviors due to a decreased ability to comprehend the consequences of negative behaviors as well as an increased receptiveness to peer pressure. Likewise, the combination of sleep deprivation and substance use can significantly hinder motor skills like concentration, alertness, and coordination. This negative combination puts these adolescents at greater risk of further risky behaviors, including heightened recklessness, sexual activity, and injury.

Based on the study’s results and the prevalence of insufficient sleep among teenagers, the researchers assert that more awareness needs to be placed on adolescents’ healthy sleeping habits in order to encourage healthier lifestyles during their crucial developmental years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

McKnight-Eily, Lela R., Danice K. Eaton, Richard Lowry, Janet B. Croft, Letitia Presley-Cantrella, and Geraldine S. Perry. 2011. Relationships between hours of sleep and health-risk behaviors in US adolescent students. Preventive Medicine, ISSN 0091-7435, Corrected Proof (August 5). DOI:10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.06.020. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743511002878.

http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/a0926_insufficient_sleep.html

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/28747
 

A recent Science Daily post shows that sleep problems are a major public-health issue in the United States. In 2006, more than 50 percent of 6th to 12th graders reported feeling tired or sleepy and more than 30 percent reported having problems remaining asleep during the night.

"The prevalence of problem sleepiness among adolescents and young adults, ages 12 to 25 years, is not only high but also increasing,” said Maria M. Wong, associate professor in the department of psychology at, Idaho State University, citing several studies. “Some serious consequences include increased risk of unintentional injuries or death, such as car accidents, low academic performance, negative moods, and increased use of alcohol and drugs."

According to Tim Roehrs, director of research at the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at the Henry Ford Hospital, sleep and sleepiness problems are important issues in childhood and adolescence. Emerging data shows the prevalence of chronic insomnia in children and adolescents is not very different from that of adults. There is now an association between this data and substance problems.

"In [ealier] studies, over tiredness and having trouble sleeping predicted onset of alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use among boys and onset of alcohol use only among girls," said Wong. "Most of our participants are young adults right now. So we wanted to test for the association between sleep problems and substance problems now that they are older."

Overall, having trouble sleeping in early childhood – ages three to five – predicted a higher probability of having trouble sleeping in adolescences. This in turn predicted the presence of drug-related problems in young adults.
 

In this study, 2,057 mothers answered questionnaires annually that concerned sleep duration and hyperactivity of their children. This data was collected on the children from birth to five years of age.

A research team from the Université de Montréal, its affiliated Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal and Sainte Justine University Hospital Research Center, as well as the Université Laval and the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), analyzed the data.

“Hyperactivity problems may interfere with night-time sleep," said senior author Jacques Montplaisir, a professor in the Université de Montréal Department of Psychiatry and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, in Science Daily. "We found that children who didn’t sleep long were generally hyperactive boys who lived under adverse family conditions."

According to this research team, boys – more than girls – with mothers of a low education, insufficient family income and who were comforted outside the bed or got into bed with mom after awakening at night were considered to be at more risk of having both short sleep duration and high hyperactivity.

"Short or fragmented sleep leads to sleepiness, which could manifest as hyperactivity in boys," explained Dr. Montplaisir. "However, the risk of abbreviated sleep in highly hyperactive children is stronger than the risk of hyperactivity among kids with short sleep duration."
 

Science Daily recently published a release on a study which found sleep patterns in adolescents can predict who may be at a greater risk for developing depression. This study was completed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Research has determined that sleep is a biological factor known to be associated with adult depression. When an adult is depressed, he or she will experience rapid eye movement (REM) sleep earlier in the sleep cycle than those who are not depressed.

Dr. Uma Rao, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study, determined that adolescents with a familial risk for depression who lack a depression diagnosis experienced shorter REM latency. These adolescents were more likely to develop depression by the end of the study period than those who reached REM sleep later in the cycle.

“Sleep is probably more helpful in determining who is at risk for developing depression than in being a diagnostic marker for depression since REM latency of those adolescents was shorter before they even developed the illness,” Dr. Rao said, in Science Daily.

The study into adolescent depression is complex as prevention and treatment are determined by baseline levels of sleep and other factors that are not clearly defined. As a result, prevention and treatment continue to change as research results change.

“Comparing these younger adolescents to those already showing depression obscures study results and can affect our understanding of the underlying mechanisms for depression as well as its treatment,” Dr. Rao said.

“Long-term studies may be helpful in determining which research participants should be considered as part of the control group. This study is an initial step in determining baseline measures that differentiate healthy adolescents from those who are likely to develop depression, bipolar disorder and other mental diseases as they get older.”