By Ralph
Derickson
Danner said the average sleep
time for teenagers during a normal week drops from 8.4 to 7.3 hours per night after
seventh grade. Students who get roughly six hours of sleep or less a night get lower
grades and are more likely to suffer depression and anxiety.
|
June
29, 2000 – (Lexington, Ky.) – High school
students are not getting enough sleep and those getting the least are more likely to have
academic, health and behavior problems, according to research by a University of Kentucky
College of Education professor. Fred Danner,
professor and chair of the educational and counseling psychology department at the
University of Kentucky College of Education, presented his research last week at the
annual conference of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
He also
presented his findings at the APSS conference based on analysis of data from the National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Sleep, a major data-gathering project sponsored by the
federal government concerned with the health habits of 7th-12th
grade students.
Danner said
the average sleep time for teenagers during a normal week drops from 8.4 to 7.3 hours per
night after seventh grade. Overall, girls get
less sleep than boys, a statistic that holds true from grade five through twelve. Students who get roughly six hours of sleep or
less a night, get lower grades and are more likely to suffer depression and anxiety. Lack of sleep is also linked with behavior
problems with teens.
“My
work simply adds to the mounting evidence that adolescents in this country do not get
enough sleep to function well during the day," Danner said.
|
