Have you ever slept in on the weekend without a care in the world?
New research from American universities shows that sleeping longer on weekends can reduce the risk of depression among teenagers.
The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, revealed that young people aged 16 to 24 who caught up on sleep on weekends had a 41% lower risk of experiencing symptoms of depression, compared to those who did not.
To conduct the study, researchers from the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2021 to 2023.
It is recommended that young people get between eight and ten hours of sleep per night. However, researchers say this is often unrealistic for many young people in the US due to the competitive environment such as school, extracurricular activities and part-time work.
Melynda Casement, a licensed psychologist and associate professor at the University of Oregon, said, “Sleep researchers and physicians have long recommended that adolescents get eight to 10 hours of sleep at a set time every day of the week, but that’s just not practical for many adolescents, or for people in general.”
She added that while consistent sleep is ideal, weekend lie-ins can still provide some benefits.
“It’s normal for teens to be night owls, so let them catch up on sleep on the weekend if they can’t get enough sleep during the week, as that’s likely to be somewhat protective,” Casement added.
Within the study, participants recorded their usual bedtimes and wakeups on weekdays and weekends. From this, researchers calculated the catch-up sleep during the weekend by comparing the average sleep duration over the week.
Respondents were classified as having symptoms of depression if they reported feeling sad or depressed every day.
“Instead of being a morning lark, you’ll become more of a night owl,” Casement explained, adding, “And sleep onset becomes progressively slower in adolescence until ages 18 to 20. Then you start to become more of a morning lark again.”
Casement also revealed that depression is one of the leading causes of disability among 16 to 24 year olds, making the findings particularly significant.
She said: “It makes that age range particularly important when trying to understand risk factors for depression and how they may relate to childbirth interventions.”
Depression is a common mental health condition that affects how a person feels, thinks and functions in daily life. It goes beyond temporary sadness and can cause persistent low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, fatigue, changes in sleep or appetite, difficulty concentrating and feelings of hopelessness.
