Study: Longer Sleep for Teens on Weekends Maintains Their Mental Health

SadaNews - A U.S. study revealed that allowing teenagers and young adults to sleep longer on weekends to compensate for the exhaustion of the school week or work helps maintain their mental health and reduces the likelihood of depression.

The study, conducted by a research team from the University of Oregon, found that teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 24 who sleep more hours on weekends have a 41% lower risk of developing certain mental illnesses, such as depression.

Researcher Melinda Kassman, a psychology specialist at the University of Oregon, stated that "sleep specialists and doctors always advise that teenagers should get between 8 and 10 hours of sleep regularly throughout the week, but this recommendation is not always practical for many teenagers or people in general."

Kassman added in statements reported by the scientific research website "SciTech Daily": "It is natural for teenagers to tend to stay up late, so let them make up for lost sleep hours on weekends, as it has benefit and protection for them."

The study published in the journal (Journal of Affective Disorders) was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the United States, conducted between 2021 and 2023, which measured regular sleep durations for teenagers during both weekdays and weekends, while monitoring their mental and emotional status or the emergence of any depression symptoms.

Kassman noted that depression is one of the leading causes of disability among the age group of 16 to 24 years, with disability in this context referring to difficulty performing daily tasks, such as not going to work or being late for appointments and having trouble fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to them.

Source: German News Agency