New study relates the lack of sleep and depression

A new study from Columbia University that was published in the journal Sleep states that teenagers who don’t sleep enough are more likely to develop depressive disorders. The study showed that teenagers who go to bed after midnight have a 24% greater risk of depression than those who go to bed before 10:00 pm. Additionally, teenagers who go to bed late have a 20% higher probability of developing suicidal thoughts. The study population consisted of nearly 16 000 teenagers in grades 7 to 12.

The lead investigator of this study, James Gangwisch said: “The results of this study provide additional evidence that insufficient sleep may play a role in the development of depression”. He also recalled that is recommended for teenagers to sleep an average of nine hours per day.

He commented that the most frequent question he gets from parents is how to make their sons to go to bed early, to which he answered: “I think it’s a matter of motivating teenagers to see the benefits. I’d encourage teenagers to try a few nights of eight or nine hours of sleep and see if they feel better during the day.”

“The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health,” a study conducted between 1994 and 1996, also showed the relation between bed time and depression.

Por Patricia Rivero