Having involved parents and feeling connected to school increase the likelihood that a teen will get sufficient sleep, a new study finds.
Previous research has suggested that developmental factors, specifically lower levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, may explain why children get less sleep as they become teenagers.
But this study — published in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior — found that social ties, including relationships with parents and friends, may have a more significant effect on changing sleep patterns in teens than biology.
“My study found that social ties were more important than biological development as predictors of teen sleep behaviors,” David Maume, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati, said in a news release from the American Sociological Association.
Maume analyzed data collected from nearly 1,000 young people when they were aged 12 to 15. During these years, the participants’ average sleep duration fell from more than nine hours per school night to less than eight hours.
He found that parents’ oversight of teens — especially in establishing a bedtime — had a strong effect on healthy sleep habits.
“Research shows that parents who keep tabs on their kids are less likely to see them get into trouble or use drugs and alcohol,” Maume said. “My findings suggest a similar dynamic with sleep. Parents who monitor their children’s behavior are more likely to have kids that get adequate rest. Given that children generally get less sleep as they become teenagers, parents should be ever more vigilant at this stage,” he added.
Teens also had longer and better quality sleep when they felt they were a part of their school or had friends who cared about school and were positive, social people.
“Teens who have pro-social friends tend to behave in pro-social ways, which includes taking care of one’s health by getting proper sleep,” Maume said.
When teenagers have trouble sleeping, doctors often recommend prescription drugs to address the problem, he noted. “My research indicates that it’s necessary to look beyond biology when seeking to understand and treat adolescents’ sleep problems,” Maume said. “Such an approach may lead to more counseling or greater parental involvement in teens’ lives, both of which are less invasive than commonly prescribed medical solutions and, at least in the case of parental involvement, cheaper.”
More information
The National Sleep Foundation has more about teens and sleep.
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