For adolescents and young adults, the link between sleep and mental health is increasingly clear, and new research suggests a practical way to potentially mitigate depressive symptoms. A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders shows that allowing young people to catch up on sleep during weekends may reduce their risk of depression by as much as 41%. The findings add to a growing body of evidence highlighting the critical need to address sleep deprivation in this age group,with some experts now advocating for changes to school schedules to better align with adolescent sleep patterns.
L’ESSENTIEL
- Catching up on sleep on weekends may reduce the risk of depression by 41% in adolescents and young adults.
- Daily depressive symptoms are twice as likely to be avoided when weekday sleep duration is optimal.
- To combat sleep deprivation among young people, “sleep specialists and healthcare professionals support a public health campaign to delay school start times.”
“Researchers and sleep specialists have long recommended that adolescents get eight to ten hours of sleep per night on a regular schedule, but that’s simply impossible for many of them,” said Melynda Casement, a psychologist and professor at the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences. Many young people struggle with insufficient sleep due to competing demands from school, social life, and extracurricular activities. This lack of consistent rest is linked to an increased risk of depression, a leading cause of disability among adolescents.
Depression Risk Drops 41% for Young People Who Sleep In on Weekends
A new study investigated whether recovering sleep on weekends could lessen depressive symptoms in late adolescence and early adulthood. Researchers reviewed data from a national survey of 1,087 individuals aged 16 to 24, conducted between 2021 and 2023. Participants’ self-reported bedtimes and wake-up times during the week and on weekends were used to calculate a weekly sleep score. Depression was defined as feeling “sad or depressed” on a daily basis. The scientists also accounted for participants’ body mass index, age, sex, and ethnicity.
The findings, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, revealed that individuals with irregular sleep schedules who caught up on sleep by sleeping in on weekends had a 41% lower risk of experiencing depressive symptoms. The study suggests that prioritizing sleep, even in short bursts, can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing. Researchers also found that getting an optimal amount of sleep during the week, at a consistent time, was twice as effective at reducing daily depressive symptoms.
Advocates Call for Later School Start Times
Researchers emphasize that adolescent sleep patterns naturally shift, making it harder to fall asleep early. “Instead of being a morning person, you become more of a night owl. The tendency to fall asleep gets progressively delayed during adolescence, up to age 18 to 20. After that, you become more of a morning person again. The typical sleep cycle for adolescents is to fall asleep around 11 p.m. and wake up around 8 a.m. This clashes with the early school start times common in many American high schools,” Casement explained. As a result, many sleep specialists and healthcare professionals are supporting public health campaigns to push back school start times. This change could help adolescents align their sleep schedules with their natural biological rhythms, potentially improving both their mental and physical health.
