Some parents have resorted to turning off the Wi-Fi to help their kids get better rest.
It’s no secret that teenagers like to stay up late and then rush around like mad in the morning to get ready for school. Then, they probably spend a chunk of the weekend catching up on sleep. But what drives these teen sleep habits?
One common explanation is that in our hunter-gatherer days, teenagers took over the night-owl watch period of keeping the group safe, while older adults rose early to relieve them. But it turns out there’s more at work. Their social ties appear to be a factor, according to research published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior in 2013.
In that study, David J. Maume, PhD, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati, compared changes in school-night sleep patterns among 974 teens from the time the youths were age 12 until age 15. During this period, the average amount of sleep dipped from more than 9 hours to fewer than 8 hours — 7.8 hours a night, to be exact.
The study found that parental monitoring and social connections at school and with friends went further in predicting healthy sleep behavior than did developmental issues. When parents kept a close tab on their teens and had an active role in monitoring their behavior — including setting a bedtime — and when the teens felt they were a vital part of their school and peer settings, the youths were much more likely to have healthy sleep habits, Maume found.
Past research has often focused on the biological factors related to sleep, but the new study controlled for previous explanations for teen sleep and went beyond the usual developmental explanations, Maume said.
As teens mature, there’s that natural evolutionary shift to stay up later. Add to that various pressures to wake up early, and it’s easy to see why they often don’t get the recommended 9½ hours of sleep a night, said sleep specialist Shyam Subramanian, MD, of Mercy Health-West Pulmonary, Sleep and Critical Care in Cincinnati.
But now, sleep doctors say, many social factors influence teen sleep habits, too. First, there are academic, social and athletic activities at school. “There’s lots of homework to do, and then there are activities that go late, even on a school night,” said Deborah Givan, MD, medical director of the Riley Hospital for Children Sleep Disorders Center at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. Many high schools have early start times, prompting teens to set their alarm clocks for the wee hours of the morning, added Dr. Subramanian.
Second, there are plenty of electronic distractions for adolescents, including TV, tablets, computers and cell phones. Subramanian noted that all the bright lights from these screens negatively affect the body’s production of melatonin — a sleep-related hormone — and can fool the brain into thinking it’s daytime even if it’s midnight.
Third, your teen’s friends are likely texting them or sending them messages via social media at all hours of the day and night — and it’s hard to resist the impulse to respond quickly.
“You have to teach your kids they can’t be on call all the time,” said Shelby Harris, PsyD, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center and an assistant professor in the department of neurology and department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
Explaining the importance of sleep can help too. “Parents have to value sleep and present a good example,” Dr. Givan said. “When you set guidelines about health, such as diet and exercise, you have to show how sleep plays a role.”
Work with your teens to set a reasonable bedtime. Then get all screens, especially cell phones, out of their rooms after a certain time at night. Harris suggested having a box somewhere in the house where all family members put their electronic devices at night. She said she also knows of parents who’ve set a timer on their Wi-Fi so that after a certain hour, the Internet in the house no longer works, helping everyone catch some Z’s.
Teens can also play crucial roles in educating each other about important sleep habits. Research shows that teens are much more willing to listen to sleep advice from their peers than other sources, said Subramanian.
Vanessa Caceres
JUL