By guest blogger Emma L. Barratt
Getting out of bed is the first major hurdle of most teens’ weekdays. Often assumed to be the product of laziness or moodiness, this difficulty rising in the morning is actually due to adolescent sleep patterns. During teenage years, circadian rhythms are relatively delayed, causing teenagers to both go to sleep and wake up later in the day.
Even so, schools in the UK still demand that teens attend lessons from 9am or earlier, while high schoolers in Germany or the USA may start as early as 7:30am. This holds students to early rise times that are more suited to those in other age groups.
In an attempt to compensate for lost sleep during the week, teens often oversleep on weekends and reduce their sleep overall. As poor sleep routines are associated with cardiovascular issues, mood disorders, substance abuse and more, it’s easy to see why improving sleep in teens is an appealing target.
But what if school starting times worked with, rather than against, teenage sleep requirements? Research studies from years gone by indicate that such a change could be beneficial, but many lacked appropriate methods to measure potential effects of sleep interventions over longer periods of time.
This is precisely the gap that Anna Biller and colleagues in Germany endeavoured to fill with a recent study in Scientific Reports.
Continue reading “When the school day starts later, teens get better sleep and feel more motivated”
