We know that sleep can impact all facets of life, but a recent study has found that adolescents who get less sleep have a higher risk of much more than exhausted mornings. (1) They are more likely to use alcohol and marijuana, researchers found.
The study, published in the Annals of Epidemiology, found that adolescents who had less sleep during childhood and adolescence were more likely to use these substances by the young age of 15. The focus of this study varied from previous studies, as the research looked at sleep in relationship to developmental stages within the same sample of children. Key focus areas included sleep duration and bedtime.
According to the study, parents were asked to report their children’s bedtimes for the ages of 3, 5 and 9. Their children’s sleep duration was recorded for the ages of 5 and 9. Once participants were 15, they reported their own sleep statistics, along with their alcohol and marijuana use. A total of 1,515 children from 20 cities in the U.S. participated in the study.
Parents of children at multiple different ages can look to the study’s findings to see when risks are the greatest. For example, later bedtimes at age 9 were associated with greater odds of drinking alcohol. On the other hand, later bedtimes at age 5 and shorter sleep duration at age 9 were associated with trying marijuana. Researchers generally concluded that staying up too late and not getting enough sleep meant a higher risk for substance experimentation as a teen.
Their findings build on previous research on similar subjects, such as a 2018 study that found insufficient sleep in adolescents led to 1.43 times greater odds of participating in risky behavior. (2) A 2017 study found that sleep health was a predictor of substance use in adolescents, including alcohol and marijuana. (3) But why are the two connected? Some experts hypothesize that lack of sleep puts kids (and everyone) into a state of hyperarousal, which means they are more likely to be overstimulated, and feel other forms of stress, increasing their chances of turning to substances to feel better.
Even though a teen might want to stay up until 2 a.m., they still need 8-10 hours of sleep, a schedule that can be unsustainable if it’s not an intentional priority. And drug use isn’t the only connection between kids’ sleep schedules and social behaviors. Another new study suggests “popular girls” get less sleep in high school as well. In addition, middle schoolers who don’t get enough sleep are at risk for severe depression. All of this can feel like a whole lot of pressure for kids and especially parents, as researchers continue to identify the true extent of sleep health on physical and emotional well-being. Given that, don’t hesitate to reach out to both the pediatrician and also mental health providers for support. Your teen will thank you when they are cool enough for a 9 p.m. bedtime years from now. Maybe.
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Sources
1. Akshay S. Krishnan, David A. Reichenberger, Stephen M. Strayer, Lindsay Master, Michael A. Russell, Orfeu M. Buxton, Lauren Hale, Anne-Marie Chang, “Childhood sleep is prospectively associated with adolescent alcohol and marijuana use,” Annals of Epidemiology, Volume 98, 2024, Pages 25-31, ISSN 1047-2797, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2024.07.048.
2. Michelle A. Short, Nathan Weber, “Sleep duration and risk-taking in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis,”
Sleep Medicine Reviews, Volume 41, 2018, Pages 185-196, ISSN 1087-0792, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2018.03.006.
3. Mary Beth Miller, Tim Janssen, Kristina M. Jackson, “The Prospective Association Between Sleep and Initiation of Substance Use in Young Adolescents,” Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 60, Issue 2, 2017, Pages 154-160, ISSN 1054-139X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.08.019.