The Sleep Whisperer is a series of columns offering insights and advice about sleep health. It is not a substitute for seeking professional medical care.
If you’re a parent of teens, bedtime may feel like a battle zone. They’re up until the wee hours, while you worry whether they’re getting enough rest and will be too tired for school the next day.
Canadian guidelines recommend eight to 10 hours of sleep a night between the ages of 14-17, but data from Statistics Canada shows that more than one-third of our teenagers don’t meet these recommendations. This makes teens one of the most commonly sleep-deprived groups, faring only slightly better than adults aged 65-79.
Why does this matter? Sleep is deeply involved in several aspects of adolescence, from physical growth and brain maturation (which continues well into the 20s), to learning and emotional regulation.
Yet simply telling teens to go to bed earlier ignores an important reality: Their body clocks are changing.
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During adolescence the biological clock that regulates most functions across the body shifts later. This means the physiological changes that set the stage for a good night’s sleep occur later for teens than younger children or adults. For example, the natural drop in body temperature that helps us fall asleep is pushed back, while melatonin, the main sleep hormone, is released later in the evening and longer into the morning.
The result? It’s harder for teens to fall asleep before 11 p.m. Also, mornings can feel especially rough: grogginess, slower thinking and clumsier motor skills are common because the alarm rings well before biological rhythms are shifting to wake mode. In other words, teens have a natural tendency to become “night owls,” a phenomenon that typically fades during adulthood.
Despite this, society calls for teens to be up and ready for school in the mornings, effectively curtailing their sleep window. Several studies – including my work with the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium and Planet Youth Lanark County, an organization focused on community-based strategies for social and environmental changes supporting youth – show that sleep-deprived teens have reduced motivation, concentration and memory, and school performance. They are also more likely to experience mood difficulties, poor self-esteem and mental health, and to use more alcohol and drugs.
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We can’t expect teens to override their natural body clocks to sleep when we want them to.
When we push someone to go to bed much earlier than when their body is ready, we set them up for failure. Imagine yourself being forced to go to bed at 7 p.m. and wake up at 3 a.m. to head out to work. You would probably struggle to doze off, wake up more often during the night and worry about how much sleep you’d get before the alarm went off. Over time, you may start seeing yourself as a “bad sleeper” and dread bedtime, a pathway that can lead to insomnia. For a teen going through major biological changes while also learning to balance evolving school demands and social life, the pressure to go to bed too early can leave a mark.
Screen teens
Then there’s the continuing debate about screens and sleep. A study involving more than 800 teens revealed that longer screen use, both during the day and at night, predicts worse sleep over the course of at least three months. Encouragingly, there’s evidence that youth who reduce screen time after 9 p.m. on school nights fall asleep earlier, sleep longer and feel more alert during the day.
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That said, not all screen time is equal. Emerging research suggests that passively watching videos may be less detrimental for teens’ sleep than more active and stimulating activities, such as gaming or communicating with friends. Although returning to good old books as part of the presleep routine remains a safe bet, we still need clearer answers about how different types of screen use affect sleep.
Can weekend sleep-ins help?
Many teens try to catch up on their zzzs by sleeping in on weekends. Unfortunately, this doesn’t really help. Research led by Dr. Geneviève Forest, a professor and director of the sleep laboratory at the University of Quebec in Outaouais, shows that these “recovery” attempts often fall short. Teens, especially girls, still report negative impacts of insufficient sleep for the rest of the week.
What can parents do?
Try to keep in mind that what may seem like an antagonistic approach to bedtime from your teen is mostly biology at work. Understanding the physiological dynamics at play can foster a more supportive and flexible approach. Gently encourage your teen to set a consistent wind-down period, ideally exploring presleep activities that do not involve screens, while setting realistic expectations about when their body may feel ready to fall asleep.
Aim to keep weekend bedtimes as close as possible to weekday ones to avoid further delaying the biological clock. This can help make the transition from Sunday night to Monday morning easier.
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There are also tools to help youth struggling with sleep. Dr. Colleen Carney, a psychology professor who specializes in sleep and mood disorders at the Toronto Metropolitan University, partnered with young Canadians to co-develop a free app called Doze. It guides young people to build a personalized plan for both their sleep and their body clock. It has been found to stabilize bedtimes and rise times, while lengthening sleep duration in high-school students.
As a society, we also need to take adolescent biology into account in public debates around time change and school start times, prioritizing healthy youth development in our decision-making.
Dr. Rébecca Robillard, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist and associate professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She also leads clinical sleep research at The Royal mental health hospital. She co-chairs the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium, a national hub of sleep scientists and clinicians.
