Sleep Deficiency in Adolescents: The School Start Time Debate

Olufunke Afolabi-Brown; Melisa E Moore; Ignacio E Tapia

doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2022.02.008

Sleep Deficiency in Adolescents: The School Start Time Debate

Clin Chest Med. 2022 Jun;43(2):239-247. doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2022.02.008.

Authors

Olufunke Afolabi-Brown¹, Melisa E Moore², Ignacio E Tapia³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: afolabibro@chop.edu.
² Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

PMID: 35659022
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccm.2022.02.008

Abstract

Adolescence is commonly accepted as a challenging time for sleep, with multiple factors contributing to sleep deficiency in adolescents. These include physiologic changes with shifts in their circadian rhythm; medical sleep disorders; and social, cultural, and environmental factors. Early school start times negatively affect sleep in adolescents as well, with poorer outcomes in their overall health, wellbeing, and performance. This article highlights the different contributing factors for sleep deficiency in adolescents and the consequences of sleep deficiency. In addition, the authors discuss the impact of delayed school start times in improving adolescents' sleep and overall function.

Keywords: Daytime sleepiness; Insomnia; Insufficient sleep; School start times; Teen sleep; Teenager.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Circadian Rhythm / physiology
Humans
Schools
Sleep* / physiology
Students*
Time Factors