In a paper in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the researchers analyzed the quality and quantity of self-reported sleep among teenagers, and found that there was a significant relationship between lack of sleep and mental health problems.
Research teams from Reading University, Goldsmith University and Flinders University found that among 4,790 participants, people with depression had poor sleep quality.
Faith, a lecturer in clinical psychology at Reading University? Dr Orchard said: "This latest study is another piece of evidence that there is an important link between sleep and adolescent mental health. This study emphasizes that young people who have experienced depression and anxiety have very poor sleep quality in adolescence.
"Obviously, the average sleep time of those who experience depression is different, which is equivalent to sleeping for 30 minutes every night, compared with other participants. In the data, some participants reported a serious decline in the quality and quantity of sleep. The overall situation highlights that we need to pay more attention to sleep when considering supporting adolescent health.
Teenagers are asked to report the quality and quantity of their sleep on a series of questions. The researchers found that teenagers in the control group slept about 8 hours every night on school nights and over 9.5 hours on weekends.
At the same time, the group diagnosed with depression slept less than 7.5 hours a week and only 9 hours on weekends.
Alice from Goldsmith University? Professor Gregory said: "The National Sleep Foundation suggests that teenagers aged 14- 17 usually need 8- 10 hours of sleep every night. It is worth noting that the group diagnosed with depression obviously exceeded the scope of these suggestions within one week, and the average sleep time of each depression at school night was 7.25 hours.
Therefore, compared with the control group, which reported 3597 teenagers, the average weekly sleep time of the depression group was 3325 minutes, which means that the average weekly sleep time of the depression group was 272 minutes or 3.5 hours.
The research team pointed out that although the data is based on self-report of sleep, so it is not accurate, it is still important to self-report the fact that the quality and quantity of sleep are poor. "What we are seeing now is that the relationship between sleep and adolescent mental health is two-way. Although bad sleep habits are related to the deterioration of mental health, we also see that solving sleep problems will have a great impact on the health of adolescents with depression and anxiety.
"It must also be pointed out that overall, the number of young people reporting anxiety and depression is still very low. Good sleep habits are very important. If you care about your child's health, we strongly recommend that you seek the support of a doctor, but any short-term negative effects on sleep should not cause panic.
Professor Gregory said: "The Ministry of Education is aware of the importance of sleep for children and adolescents. From September 2020, legal guidance will mean that they will learn the value of high-quality sleep in all aspects of life, including emotions. This is really good news.
Michael of Flinders University in Australia? Professor Gradisal said: "This longitudinal study confirms that the lack of sleep in adolescence that we see clinically may be a fork in the road. If left untreated, the mental health of adolescents may deteriorate. Fortunately, schools and individual families can use sleep intervention measures to help teenagers return to the road of healthy sleep ... "