How does sleep quantity effect the well-being of adolescents from thirteen to sixteen?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, to little of sleep can cause limit a adolescent’s ability to “learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems”. They also state that hostile or
inappropriate behaviors can occur. For example, a “behavior such as yelling at your friends or being impatient with your teachers or family members.” (National Sleep Foundation) These traits can worsen those around the adolescent, thus hurting relationships with peers and teachers. They can also hurt themselves due to not remembering a due date in class.

Though sleep quantity and sleep quality sound similar, they are both different yet important processes that contribute to sleeping. Sleep quality is how well one sleeps at night. This means that a person can fall asleep right away and will sleep soundly through the night with little to no interruptions. People with a good sleep quality also don’t wake up often during the and but can get back to sleep within 20 minutes. Sleep quantity is how many hours of sleep a person gets each night. The healthy number of hours to get depends from person to person as some only need 6 hours of sleep while others need 8 to feel just as rested.

In article, “Sleep variability and fatigue in adolescents: Associations with school-related features” by M.G Matos et. al. state that the average sleep duration of sleep duration was 7.5 hours during the week and 8.8 hours during the weekend , and the total average/day 7.9 hours out of several kids in the eighth grade and tenth grade. They found that little sleep hours can increase pressure with school work and can reduce school regular attendance (Matos et. al.). They did not find that poor sleep habits were directly related to poor academic performance in school. Adolescents who got better sleep had better habits and lowered stress. This is important because if teens got more hours of sleep each night, it could help reduce ‘bad habbits’ or stress in adolescents just by increasing their sleep hours.

What are some thing to help teens get the sleep they need? Dr. Mary Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry at Brown University says that setting a routine around bedtime. Scheduling study secession and media times are also helpful for adolescents to get a restful night’s sleep. The University of Oregon recommends that limiting caffeinated products about six to eight hours before sleeping. This is because can stay in the body from three to five hours and can hinder the quality of sleep. They also say that is important to make bed a place for sleep. Homework and screen time should not be done in bed so that the association between a teen’s bed and sleep will be strengthened.

One of high school’s more popular characteristics are the several stories that students exchange among others about how late they stay up. These might include describing how they pulled an “all-nighter” studying for a big test or partied though the night, than sleep through Saturday. Though these experiences sound sadistic to some, you might wonder how these habits effect their physical and mental biological needs. Here, this blog explores how poor sleep quantity effects the well-being of adolescents from thirteen to sixteen.