Eight hours of sleep used to be the norm, and all-nighters with only a few hours of rest were rare among teenagers. In recent years, however, there has been an alarming decline in sleep duration. It has reached a point where insufficient sleep among teens is considered a major public health problem in the US.
A recent US-based study in JAMA has looked into national sleeping trends among US high school students between 2007 and 2023. Over 120,000 students self-reported the number of hours of sleep they got on a typical school night. Anything less than or equal to seven hours was labeled as insufficient sleep, and less than or equal to five hours was considered very short sleep.
The survey results showed that the number of students getting insufficient sleep grew from 68.9% to 76.8% in a span of 16 years, and very short sleep rose from 15.8% to 23%. The researchers noted that interventions such as later school start times can help, and—for example—have been associated with longer sleep. Increased sleep duration also comes with added benefits, such as greater academic engagement and improved mental health.
A trail of negative health effects
The effects of sleep deprivation go beyond feeling sleepy or lethargic. Sleep is essential for our body to repair tissues, flush away toxins, and support the immune system. Hence, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to several major diseases—diabetes, heart disease, and even depression, among many others.
Although studies have shown that sleep duration has recently declined across groups, it remains unclear whether teens with certain behavioral health risks are affected more than others.
Impact of behavioral risks
To address this question, researchers analyzed a large dataset from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationwide survey given to U.S. high school students every two years. They examined the data by demographics—such as grade, sex, and race—and across 15 health behaviors, including social media usage, being bullied, mental health symptoms, and the use of cigarettes and alcohol.
The analysis revealed that rates of insufficient sleep rose equally, or even more, among students without behavioral risk factors compared to those with them. The trend of rising sleep deprivation was national, but the increase was significantly larger among non-Hispanic Black students compared to non-Hispanic white students. They also found sleep loss to be much more common among students struggling with depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts.
While there was a sharp rise in those getting five or fewer hours of sleep per night, the percentage that reported six to seven hours of sleep saw minimal change between 2007 and 2023.
The researchers noted that these insights should be interpreted with caution since the study tested multiple hypotheses with adjustment, relied on self-reported sleep duration, and didn’t include factors like extracurricular demands and family conflict, which can have an impact on one’s sleep cycle.
Building on the groundwork laid by this study is essential to ensuring experts can provide evidence-based advice to improve public awareness and support school policy reforms.