Inadequate Sleep Linked to Risky Behaviors in Adolescents

Inadequate sleep, a documented problem among U.S. adolescents, can harm development and impair judgment, especially among youth.

Using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to >67,000 adolescents between February 2007 and May 2015, researchers examined the association between sleep duration and personal safety risk-taking behaviors of U.S. high school students. Sleep duration on an average school night was categorized as ≥8 hours, 7 hours, 6 hours, or <6 hours. Outcomes included risky driving, tobacco use, alcohol use, marijuana use, other drug use, risky sexual behaviors, aggressive behaviors, depressed mood (feeling sad or hopeless), and self-harm behaviors.

Only about one third of the adolescents studied (30%) were getting…