For teens, late bedtimes can be depressing, study finds

Teenagers across the country are staying up late tonight to ring in the new year. But teens who make a habit of staying up past midnight have an increased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts.

A new study finds that adolescents can improve their mental health by sticking to bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier. Compared with teenagers who hit the hay by 10, those who go to bed after midnight were 24% more likely to be depressed and 20% more likely to seriously contemplate suicide.

Even more important than an early bedtime -- though certainly related to it -- was the total amount of sleep teens got. Compared with adolescents who reported eight hours of shut-eye each night, those who managed five hours or less were 71% more likely to be depressed and 48% more likely to consider suicide.

Columbia University psychotherapist James Gangwisch and colleagues determined these risks by analyzing data collected from 15,659 kids in grades 7 through 12 and their parents as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Overall, 7% of teens were depressed and 13% had seriously contemplated suicide.

The findings, published in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep, are in line with the theory that insufficient shut-eye can cause depression, according Gangwisch. “Adequate quality sleep could therefore be a preventative measure against depression and a treatment for depression,” he said in a statement.

Gangwisch has previously linked inadequate sleep to obesity, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Of course, convincing teens to turn in by 10 is easier said than done. In the survey data, only 54% of parents said their teens were in bed by 10 p.m., and 25% said they allowed their adolescents to turn in after midnight. For help enforcing an early bedtime, check out these tips from SleepEducation.com.

-- Karen Kaplan

Photo: Early to bed makes teens healthy (at least when it comes to mental health). We're not yet sure about wealthy and wise. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[mimi]

I'm sure this is correct. Parents need to set the example, too. If Mommy gets up at 4 AM and goes to bed at 8 PM, and old Dad doesn't turn in until 2 AM, gets up early then sneaks naps during the day, what's the chance that the kids will adopt normal schedules? Not much........

[Rev. Simon]

This study does not demonstrate a causal relationship between bedtime and depressive symptoms. It only shows a correlation between these two variables. It could just as well be the case that teens who are depressed tend to go to bed later than those who are not depressed. It is nonsense to advocate earlier bedtimes as a means to better mental health, given that poor mental health could occur first.

[storytellerdoc]

This is a fantastic post if for no other reason, for every parent to be a little more aware of what time your child actually falls asleep in the bedroom, not what time he climbed into bed and shut the door. Most kids that we know climb into bed, listen to music, read, play the Nintendo DS, etc. for quite a while, only to fall asleep from exhaustion. That needs to change to a more healthier habit of falling asleep. Well done.

[John]

Seriously? If a person doesn't get more sleep they are more likely to be depressed? How many people did they have to "study" to figure that out? I believe it is quite obvious that if a person doesn't get enough sleep that they aren't going to be as happy, you know why? Because they are tired!!! What medication are they going to prescribe now?

The next study is going to "Discover" that eating healthy can reduce the risk of depression... oh wait they probably already did.

[Bluejeans]

Great advice!

[thomas gill]

This is a classic case of correlation does not equal causation. While getting a good amount of sleep is probably quite important, and does affect a person's mental health and cognitive abilities, this study is not sufficient to accept or reject that hypothesis. It is quite plausible that parents that get their children to bed by 10, compared to those who let their teens stay up past twelve, are more involved and authoritative (the good parenting style), and those attributes help protect teens from depression. It is also plausible that the before 10 parents, as compared to the after midnight parents, passed down genes that support psychological traits such as resilience and conscientiousness and constraint that also protect against depression. While I'm all for teens getting enough sleep, this is exactly the kind of issue that needs some random assignment (sleep before ten vs sleep after midnight groups) to intelligently shed light on the issue.

[Science Reader]

"Explain to interested patients that this cross-sectional study could not establish a causal relationship between lack of sleep and depression or suicidal ideation.

Some limitations of the study: Parent-set bedtimes could be influenced by characteristics and behaviors of the child."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/sleepdisorders/17766

Science journalists perform a public service when they help their readers understand the difference between medical research that establishes a correlation, and that which proves a cause.

[Matt]

It might help if schools wouldn't set such ridiculously early start times (my junior high and high school both started at 7:30). If the average work day is nine-to-five, why do schools start so early? And why don't schools realize that some people- teens included- simply aren't wired for extremely early mornings?

[Vickie]

I think this is one of those situations where if you tend to go to bed earlier, you have less tendency toward depression. It does not PREVENT clinical depression. To say otherwise is irresponsible.

[Pontius]

What makes this study questionable is the fact that depression itself has long been suspected of causing sleep disturbances.
Did they actually find depression RESULTING from the sleep patterns or was it just something that COINCIDED with them?
If it's the latter, I'm afraid they haven't made any significant discovery here, they're just presenting the other half of a chicken-and-the-egg scenario.

[gjdagis]

Seems like you have the "cart before the horse", so to speak. It's because some are depressed that they tend to sleep less.

gjdagis FNP