Failure to get regular sleep can predict future problems like alcoholism, risky sexual behavior or violence. Repeated failure to get adequate sleep could be precipitated by a number of causes and this includes insomnia, staying up late in the night surfing the internet, could be an indicator of future psychological problems according to a new study.
The need for adolescents to be told about the importance of proper sleep has been highlighted in a paper which was published on Friday in a journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The study was conducted by Idaho State University psychologists that suggest that adolescents must be educated about the importance of proper sleep.
National polls point out that 27% children and 45% adolescents do not get adequate sleep. Again there is increasing evidence which links sleep deprivation with impaired cognitive function.
Most of the earlier studies have been confined on insomnia which has been described as the inability to fall asleep or staying awake every day for extended periods sometimes stretching to a year. The latest study however focuses on other issues which lead to loss of sleep.
Lead study author Maria Wong, a professor of developmental psychology, and her colleagues wrote, “Adolescents may have insufficient sleep due to a variety of reasons including academic and social obligations, poor sleep hygiene, and 24/7 Internet access through phones and computers.”
The conclusions were based on data available in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health which was a survey of 6,504 students in grades 7 through 12.
