Researchers find ways to increase sleeping hours in teens

We are aware of the importance of sleep. If we complete our sleep in proper hours we can concentrate properly on a coming day. Someday, if we do not complete our sleep, we notice irritability and less alertness in our behavior. Due to this we also don’t catch up with time.

Concerning this, researchers have found a way to increase sleeping hours among teenagers. This will help teens to complete their sleep cycle and decrease the issues caused due to the deprivation of sleep.

In the teenage, it is very important for a person to at least sleep for 8-10 hours. Sleeping for this particular period helps in maintaining physical health and helps in concentrating properly. According to the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, most adolescents take less than eight hours of sleep.

New research published in the journal SLEEP considers this issue and sheds light on ways that might help adolescents to get more sleep.

Stephanie J. Crowley, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the director of the Pediatric Chronobiology and Sleep Research Program at RUSH says, "There are a lot of changes a teen goes through. One specifically is a change to sleep biology that happens during puberty. The brain systems that control sleep change in such a way that it's easier for an adolescent to stay awake later into the evening. One of these systems -- the 24-hour circadian clock -- shifts later in time.”

As per the research, there are two important factors. The first is to go to bed earlier for the school schedule and the second is the natural biological changes happening in the teen’s body.

To solve this complex clash, the researchers implanted an action plan that targeted the circadian system with different behavioral measures. It aims to help teens to schedule a better nighttime routine.

So, the researchers used bright light therapy to combat sleep deprivation. They used this therapy on two weekend mornings for 2.5 hours. The bright light signals the internal clock to wake up a little earlier. This would help teens to fall asleep at the proper time.

The team of researchers then helped to control sleep deprivation by providing time management tools and also, by addressing the barriers responsible for an early bedtime. For this purpose, they followed the way of limiting certain school activities.  

After the study, the researchers were successfully able to increase the teen’s bedtime by half an hour, which increased their total sleep by approximately one hour.

"The interesting thing is that teens with late circadian clocks shifted by up to two hours earlier," Crowley said. "And the teens who had an earlier circadian clock didn't need to be shifted any earlier. They just needed the behavioral support of trying to manage their time in the evening and increase their sleep duration."

After this study, researchers also found that the teens then were less tired, less worried, and less irritable. They exhibited better concentration power and their alertness in the morning improved.