Adolescent sleep insufficiency one year after high school

Sleep difficulties affect approximately 45% of adolescents and are associated with health consequences such as depression and obesity. Sleep duration immediately following high school is not well understood, especially for those not pursuing post-secondary education. We examined adolescent sleep insufficiency and its association with school and work status.

Data were collected in 2012 and 2013 as part of the NEXT Generation Health Study (NEXT), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of U.S. adolescents. Self-reported sleep was compared with guidelines for healthy sleep.

On weekdays, 31% reported less than 7 h of sleep; which reduced to 6% on weekends. Average weekday sleep was 7.4 h and weekend sleep was 9.2 h. Few results emerged from interaction analyses comparing different work and school statuses.

This study captures sleep habits of adolescents one year after high school regardless of school and/or working status. Implications and future directions are discussed.