What has research found about the amount of sleep that adolescents need, the amount of sleep that they usually get, and the problems associated with lack of adequate sleep?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Research on sleep suggests that adolescents need approximately 9.5 hours of sleep each night. A recent survey of adolescents showed that only 27 percent of U.S. adolescents got eight hours of sleep per night on school nights. Other studies confirm that adolescents are sleeping less than the optimal amount each night. Adolescents who got inadequate sleep (eight hours or less on a school night) were more likely to feel tired or sleepy, more cranky and irritable, fall asleep in school, be in a depressed mood, and drink caffeinated beverages than their counterparts who got optimal sleep. In addition, getting less than six to eight hours of sleep a night has been linked to lower levels of exercise, less effective stress management, adoption of an unhealthy diet, and higher levels of anxiety.