While it may be tempting to wake up your teenager on Saturday or Sunday so they don’t snooze the day away, new research suggests you may want to let them sleep. Sure, it can be frustrating when they’re in bed past noon and you want to do stuff as a family, or have your teen do chores around the house, giving them a chance to catch up on rest is actually good for their mental health.
According to a new study from the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, letting young adults sleep in can significantly lower the risk of depressive symptoms.
- Researchers analyzed sleep and health data from 1,084 people between the ages of 16 and 24, focusing on self-reported sleep habits.
- They found that the adolescents who caught up on sleep over the weekend have a 41% lower risk for symptoms of depression than those who didn’t.
National surveys reveal that about three-quarters of high school students across the country don’t get enough sleep and 25% of them admit they fall asleep during class at least once a week. Around 17% of teens and young adults experience a major depressive episode every year, and if something as simple as sleeping in can help prevent that, why not try it?
“Sleep researchers and clinicians have long recommended that adolescents get eight to 10 hours of sleep at a regular time every day of the week, but that’s just not practical for a lot of adolescents, or people generally,” explains Melynda Casement, study author, licensed psychologist, associate professor in the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences and director of the UO's Sleep Lab. “It’s normal for teens to be night owls, so let them catch up on sleep on weekends if they can’t get enough sleep during the week because that’s likely to be somewhat protective.”⠀
Source: BCK
Scott's Thoughts
- Just let the teens sleep! Who wants to wake them up and have them be grumpy, anyway?
- When I was a teen that is when I caught up on my sleep!
- I wish I could sleep later on the weekends now, but my body wakes me up at the butt crack of dawn every day! Dang it!