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Inadequate sleep is associated with depression and suicidal ideation in adolescents, but the causal relationship is unclear. Insomnia and poor sleep are symptoms of depression, but can themselves lower mood. These investigators examined the effects of bedtimes set by parents, who presumably establish them independently of their child's degree of depression.
The researchers analyzed data from in-home interviews of 15,659 adolescents in the 7th to 12th grade and their parents, conducted as part of a nationally representative study. The collected information included parents' reports of bedtimes and adolescents' reports of sleep, depression, and suicidal thoughts in the previous year. Adolescents were largely compliant with bedtimes set by thei…