Addressing the Sleep Deprivation Epidemic in Adolescents: Findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2021

ABSTRACT

Background

Millions of U.S. youths do not get adequate sleep. Healthy People 2030 has prioritized sleep and identified an objective to increase the proportion of students in grades 9 through 12 who get sufficient sleep.

Purpose

This study investigated the predictors of severe sleep deprivation in adolescents.

Methods

Data were obtained from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a school-based survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Severe sleep deprivation was defined as 6 hours or less sleep per night on school nights. Binary logistic regressions were used to estimate the associations.

Results

Among the 17,232 youth surveyed, 48.2% experienced severe sleep deprivation. Self reported overweight and poor mental health status, limited physical activity, excessive screen time, smoking/vaping, lacking school connectedness, parental monitoring, school, and neighborhood safety as well as not having stable housing were statistically significant predictors of adolescents’ severe sleep deprivation.

Discussion

Scaling up sleep health programs in schools, neighborhoods, and subpopulations of adolescents could be a fundamental step toward achieving health equity.

Translation to Health Education Practice

Educators, health professionals, and social workers should be informed about the risk and protective factors of sleep health, and adolescents’ vulnerabilities to sleep deprivation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).