Home » Mental Health » For teenagers going to bed earlier protects from depression and suicide

For teenagers going to bed earlier protects from depression and suicide

Ensuring that your teen gets enough sleep could protect them from depression and suicide. Teenagers who go to bed after midnight are twenty-four percent more likely to suffer from depression, and twenty percent more likely to develop suicidal ideations.

The study, published January 1 in the journal Sleep showed that teens who report sleeping five hours or less nightly had a seventy one percent higher chance of suffering from depression. They were also 48 percent more likely to think about suicide, compared to teens who report sleeping eight hours or more nightly.

Parents who set teen bedtime for 10pm or earlier were reported at fifty four percent in a study analyzing data collected from 15,659 adolescents and their parents who had participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) study. The study is representative of US students in grades seven to 12 in 1994 to 1996. Use of the Centers for Epidemiologic Study-Depression Scale revealed that 2038 teens had thought seriously about committing suicide during the past twelve months – 13 percent.

Twenty five percent of parents in the study allowed their teenagers to go to bed at midnight or after. The researchers found that self perception of how much parents care, perception of sleep time, later times set for going to bed, and shorter sleep time were all associated with depression and suicide n the teenagers studied.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends nine or more hours of sleep nightly for adolescents. The authors believe that teenagers who get less sleep have difficulty coping, moodiness, impaired judgment, less self control and inability to concentrate because of the way the effect on the brain in response to harsh stimuli. For teens, getting enough sleep – something that can be facilitated by parents – may protect from depression and suicide.

Abstract: SLEEP 2010;33(1):97-106.

Also Read: