Teens are sleeping less than ever and screens aren't primarily to blame

"Sleep plays a crucial role in adolescent brain development. It's important for emotional regulation in teenagers and important for their overall physical and mental health. Bommersbach says that it's been clear for some time that teens are sleeping less now than they once did."

"Roughly three out of four American adolescents across all demographics reported insufficient sleep in 2023, which is up by 8% since 2007. This trend was driven by an increase in teens getting very short sleep of five hours or less, which swelled from 15.8% to 23.0% over that same time period."

"Regardless of mental health symptoms, substance use, how many hours a day they're watching TV or they're on social media, we saw widespread increases in insufficient sleep across the population. The rise in insufficient sleep didn't appear to depend on certain risk behaviors either."

A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that American teenagers are sleeping less than ever, with roughly 75% of high school students reporting insufficient sleep (less than eight hours per night) in 2023, compared to 67% in 2007. The percentage of teens getting very short sleep of five hours or less increased from 15.8% to 23.0% over the same period. Sleep is crucial for adolescent brain development, emotional regulation, and overall physical and mental health. The sleep deficit increased across all demographic groups regardless of age, sex, or race and ethnicity, with Black students showing greater increases than white students. Notably, the rise in insufficient sleep occurred independently of risk behaviors like mental health symptoms, substance use, or screen time.

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