London - Teenagers who have regular bedtimes are less likely to get into trouble, a report has said.
It claimed that parental involvement in adolescents’ lives is more efficient than medical intervention in helping them get the sleep they need.
Sociology professor David J. Maume found that parental monitoring of adolescent behaviour, especially in setting a bedtime, strongly determined healthy sleep habits.
“Research shows that parents who keep tabs on their kids are less likely to see them get into trouble or use drugs and alcohol,” he said. “My findings suggest a similar dynamic with sleep. Parents who monitor their children’s behaviour are more likely to have kids who get adequate rest.
“Given that children generally get less sleep as they become teenagers, parents should be ever more vigilant at this stage.”
Adolescents with positive, social friends also had healthier sleep – longer and of higher quality. “Teens who have pro-social friends tend to behave in pro-social ways, which includes taking care of one’s health by getting proper sleep,” Professor Maume said.
He analysed the changes in school-night sleep patterns of nearly 1 000 adolescents from when they were 12 to 15 and found average sleep duration fell from more than nine hours to less than eight.
“When adolescents have trouble sleeping, doctors often recommend prescription drugs to address the problem,” said the professor from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.
“My research indicates that it’s necessary to look beyond biology when seeking to understand and treat adolescents’ sleep problems. Such an approach may lead to more counselling or greater parental involvement in teens’ lives, both of which are less invasive than commonly-prescribed medical solutions and, at least in the case of parental involvement, cheaper.”
The study suggests social ties may be more responsible than the decline of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, as children become teenagers, for changing sleep patterns in adolescents.
Professor Maume, author of the study Social Ties and Adolescent Sleep Disruption, made his claims in December’s Journal of Health and Social Behaviour. - Daily Mail