US teens getting less sleep than ever, new report finds

"The findings showed a consistent decline in sleep across every age category. The latest figures revealed record-low sleep levels for all groups, with only 22% of older adolescents saying they slept at least seven hours each night. Sleep time steadily declines as teens age, while both sleep duration and feelings of getting enough rest drop significantly from early adolescence to later teen years."

"Some barriers to sleep faced by teens have existed across generations, such as the increased homework and extracurricular demands that come with high school, social pressures to stay up late with peers, and jobs. Other issues, though, are new in recent years, such as increasingly ever-present screens and social media as well as recent society-wide stressors such as the pandemic, social unrest or militarized policing."

"The study also reported growing gaps in sleep outcomes. Black and Latino teens, along with adolescents whose parents have lower levels of education, are becoming increasingly less likely to get adequate sleep compared with other groups. The greatest impact was seen among older adolescents."

"For the study, researchers analyzed data from Monitoring the Future, a long-running national survey representing more than 400,000 US students in grades eight, 10 and 12 from 1991 through 2023. Participants responded to two primary questions: how often they slept at least seven hours per night and how often they believed they were getting enough rest."

Teen sleep has declined steadily across all age groups, reaching record-low levels. Only 22% of older adolescents report sleeping at least seven hours per night. Sleep time decreases as teens get older, and both sleep duration and perceived rest adequacy drop from early to later adolescence. Barriers include increased homework and extracurricular demands, social pressure to stay up late with peers, and jobs. Newer factors include pervasive screens and social media, along with broad stressors such as the pandemic, social unrest, and militarized policing. Sleep gaps are growing, with Black and Latino teens and adolescents with less-educated parents becoming less likely to get adequate sleep. Insufficient sleep is linked to exhaustion, impaired functioning, mental health problems, school struggles, and chronic illnesses later in adulthood.

Read at www.theguardian.com