Sleep: A Game Changer for Youth Athlete Wellbeing

Youth athletes may have reduced opportunities for sufficient sleep, and often report poor mental health and wellbeing.

Most youth athletes obtain less than recommended duration and quality of sleep, with associated reduced wellbeing.

Prospective observational study.

Level 3.

Sleep was monitored in 98 youth athletes (15.19 ± 2.08 years) for 8 consecutive weeks. Wellbeing was self-reported weekly using the Multicomponent Training Distress Scale (MTDS) and the Short Recovery Stress Scale (SRSS).

Adolescent athletes averaged 7.0 (±1.1) hours sleep per night, but did not meet recommended daily sleep duration (ie, ≥8 hours) on >80% of nights studied. Significant sleep disturbances were detected in 40% of participants. Total sleep time measured via actigraphy was associated negatively with MTDS depression (all values given as [β; CI)] (-0.50; -0.95-0.05), stress (-0.78; -1.23-0.33) and sleep disturbance (-0.62; -0.97-0.27) subscales and overall score (-2.57; -4.27-0.87), and the SRSS stress subscale (-0.82; -1.50-0.15) (P < 0.05). Subjective sleep quality measured via sleep diaries was associated positively with all MTDS scores including depression (0.85; 0.50-1.19), sleep disturbance (1.04; 0.72-1.35), and physical symptom (0.60; 0.13-1.08) subscales, and the SRSS stress subscale (1.67; 0.91-2.43), and negatively with SRSS recovery subscale (-1.02; -1.64-0.41). Fatigue ratings before bed and upon awakening were associated positively with all MTDS subscales and the SRSS stress subscale (1.23; 0.74-1.71) (1.26; 0.79-1.74) (P < 0.05).

Many adolescent athletes do not meet current sleep recommendations, and inadequate duration and/or quality of sleep in this population is associated with poorer self-reported wellbeing.

Education surrounding sleep in youth athletes should emphasize the importance of adequate sleep, alongside the maintenance of regular sleeping patterns to promote wellbeing and mental health.