Sleep in Adolescents
What to expect
Adolescents are notorious for not getting enough sleep. The average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However, they need between 9 and 9 ½ hours (studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep). Teenagers do not get enough sleep for several reasons:
- Shift in sleep schedule. After puberty, there is a biological shift in an adolescent’s internal clock of about 2 hours, meaning that a teenager who used to fall asleep at 9:00 PM will now not be able to fall asleep until 11:00 PM. It also means waking up 2 hours later in the morning.
- Early high school starts. In most school districts, the move to high school is accompanied by an earlier school start time. Some high schools start as early as 7:00 AM, meaning that some teenagers must get up as early as 5:00 AM to get ready for and travel to school.
- Social and school obligations. Homework, sports, after-school activities (often occurring during the evening), and socializing lead to late bedtimes.
As a result, most adolescents are extremely sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation will impact many aspects of teenagers’ functioning:
- Mood. Sleep deprivation will cause your teenager to be moody, irritable, and cranky. In addition, she will have a difficult time regulating her mood, such as getting frustrated or upset more easily.
- Behavior. Teenagers who are sleep-deprived are also more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as drinking, driving fast, and engaging in other dangerous activities.
- Cognitive ability. Inadequate sleep will result in problems with attention, memory, decision-making, reaction time, and creativity, all of which are important in school.
- Academic performance. Studies show that teenagers who get less sleep are more apt to get poor grades in school, fall asleep in school, and have school tardiness/ absences.
- Drowsy driving. Teenagers are at the highest risk of falling asleep at the wheel. Drowsy driving is most likely to occur in the middle of the night (2:00 to 4:00 AM), but also in mid-afternoon (3:00 to 4:00 PM).
How to help your teenager get enough sleep
- Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Your teenager should go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day. Her sleep schedule should also ensure adequate time in bed.
- Avoid oversleeping on weekends. Although catching up on some sleep on the weekends can be helpful, sleeping in until noon on Sunday will make it hard for your teenager to get back on a school schedule that night.
- Take early afternoon naps. A nap of 15–20 minutes in the early afternoon can be beneficial.
- Turn off televisions, computers, and radios. Television viewing, computer-game playing, internet use, and other stimulating activities at bedtime will cause problems falling asleep.
- Avoid caffeine, smoking, alcohol, and drugs. All these cause sleep problems.
- Contact your teenager’s doctor. Speak to your adolescent’s physician if she has difficulties falling asleep, snores, or seems excessively sleepy during the day.
Childhood sleep disorders can disrupt family dynamics and cause cognitive and behavioral problems. Early recognition and management can prevent these complications. Childhood insomnias affect 10% to 30% of children and result from inconsistent parental limit-setting and improper sleep-onset association. Behavioral insomnias are treated using extinction techniques and parent education. Learn more about how Quality Behavioral Health’s team of expert providers can help you get some sleep! Call (401) 681-4274 to schedule your appointment today.
