A look at adolescent sleep needs

Amos, L. B., & D’Andrea, L. A. (2012, October 1). A look at adolescent sleep needs: Waking up to the unique sleep needs of adolescents. Contemporary Pediatrics.

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Abstract

Teenagers generally require 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) 2006 Sleep in America Poll revealed that adolescents report sleeping 7.6 hours on school nights, even though they feel that they need an average of 8.2 hours of sleep for optimal daytime function^.

 

More than 50% of teenagers feel sleepy during the day. Only approximately 20% of all surveyed adolescents (6th- to 12th-graders) report an adequate amount of nightly sleep (=9 hours per night); among high school students (9th- to 12th-graders), the percentage decreases to 9%, suggesting that sleep deprivation is more common in older adolescents. Interestingly, 90% of parents believe that their adolescent gets enough sleep on most school nights.