Awake to teen sleep challenges

PARENTS of teens might be surprised to discover the sleepless nights they endured with them as babies have returned. A surge in hormones, desire to chat to their friends late into the evening and even a change in their circadian rhythm (natural sleepwake cycle), are three of the factors that affect teenagers’ sleep.

In fact, adolescence is seen as a “perfect storm” by scientists like me who study sleep health and sleep disturbances in this age group.

Changes in biology, physiology and the social environment all converge at the same point and cause teenagers to have trouble getting to sleep, want to stay up later (and therefore want to get up later), or just not get as much sleep as they need.

It seems the stereotype of the sleepy teen emerging from their room at midday on a Sunday has a scientific basis.

Worldwide guidelines state teenagers aged 14-17 need 8-10 hours sleep a night and those between 12-14 should be getting 9-11 hours.

Alarming data from the US Centre of Disease Control and Prevention suggests almost threequarters of teens (73 per cent) aren’t getting the sleep they need. Sleep disturbance is a common factor for the onset of mental health problems and can significantly reduce resilience in the face of stress.

I’m looking into whether we can prevent the onset of common mental health problems like anxiety and depression just by improving young people’s sleep habits.

There are lots of things parents can do to help their teens get the sleep they need. Here are a few:

● Encourage your teen to get exposure to natural light in the morning. This helps to reduce Melatonin, the chemical which makes us feel sleepy.

● Encourage regular wake-up times, even on weekends. You absolutely have to pick your battles, but long weekend sleep-ins can wreak havoc on their internal body clock.

Discourage caffeine in the evenings and instead substitute with herbal tea or water.

● Support your child to organise their time so that they aren’t left having to do all-nighters to finish assignments.

● Try to avoid naps after school — this can make the problem of late bedtimes even worse.

● Insist your teen leaves their phone outside their bedroom and putting them on flight mode an hour before bedtime will help them wind down.

● Don’t force your child to go to sleep before they are tired. This will just leave them feeling frustrated if they can’t sleep. Instead, encourage them to wind down and establish a night time routine to prepare their minds and bodies for sleep (eg: a hot shower, read a book).

● Suggest your child keeps their bed for sleeping only and not as a place for homework, chatting to friends or watching videos. This will ensure their brain will come to associate their bed with sleep only.

● School start times of earlier than 8.30am are just too early for a young person’s circadian rhythm and that means extra-curricular activities are best done after school, not before.

● Encourage your teen to rearrange their day if they are doing early activities.

● Try to understand that they really do have shifted sleep patterns which makes them naturally want to stay up later and get up later. If they feel understood they might just be more willing to listen to your suggestions.

Working at The Black Dog Institute, I’m trying to help 12 to 16year-olds improve their sleep by using a phone app, called Sleep Ninja, which guides teens through some of the tips I’ve just suggested.

Often when teens feel they are in control of changing a situation, they are more motivated to do it. Dr Aliza Werner-Seidler is a senior research fellow and clinical psychologist at the Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney

It seems the stereotype of the sleepy teen emerging from their room at midday on a Sunday has a scientific basis