Sleeping longer on Saturday and Sunday would not only be a pleasure for adolescents, but also a real lever for their psychological well-being. An American study reveals that making up for lack of sleep on the weekend could significantly reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.
Chronic lack of sleep in adolescents
Many teenagers lack sleep. Between academic demands, social life and extracurricular activities, it is often impossible for them to respect the recommendations of specialists, who nevertheless recommend eight to ten hours of sleep per night, at regular times.
“It’s simply unrealistic for many of them“, underlines Melynda Casement, psychologist and professor at the University of Oregon. However, too short, irregular nights or late bedtimes are closely associated with an increased risk of depression, one of the main causes of disability in adolescents and young adults.
Sleeping late and depression: a protective link highlighted
To better understand the role of catch-up sleep, researchers analyzed data from a national survey conducted between 2021 and 2023 among 1,087 young people aged 16 to 24. Participants reported their bedtimes and wake-up times on weekdays and weekends, allowing scientists to assess their “weekly sleep score.”
Result: young people who went to bed and got up later, but compensated for this difference by sleeping late on the weekend, had a 41% lower risk of suffering from depressive symptoms. These conclusions, published in the Journal of Affective Disorderstake into account many factors such as age, gender, body mass index and even ethnic origin. The authors specify, however, that sufficient and regular sleep during the week remains twice as beneficial for mental health.
Towards a questioning of school timetables?
Researchers point out that the biological rhythm evolves naturally during adolescence. Sleep onset gradually shifts, pushing young people to become more “nocturnal” until the age of 18 to 20. The typical sleep cycle would correspond to falling asleep around 11 p.m. and waking up around 8 a.m., a rhythm often incompatible with the morning hours of schools.
Faced with this observation, many sleep specialists support a reform of school timetables, in particular the shift in the start time of classes. In the meantime, allowing – and even encouraging – sleeping in on weekends could be a simple and accessible solution to preserve adolescent mental health.