Developmental Trends in Sleep Duration in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Evidence From a National United States Sample

Dec 24, 2013The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

Changes in Sleep Length During Teen and Young Adult Years in the United States

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Abstract

Mean sleep duration decreased from 8.5 hours at age 13 to 7.3 hours at age 18, then increased to 8.5 hours at age 22 before declining to 7.7 hours by age 32.

Sleep duration varies with age, showing a decrease during adolescence followed by an increase in early adulthood.
Adolescent girls reported lower average sleep duration compared to boys, while women had longer sleep duration than men after age 19.
Short sleep duration was most prevalent among African-Americans across all ages.
Long sleep duration was most commonly reported among African-Americans during adolescence and emerging adulthood, and among Hispanics in early adulthood.
Normative data on sleep duration can aid in understanding its relationship with health conditions in adolescents and young adults.

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PURPOSE: To present normative values of mean sleep duration from adolescence through young adulthood (ages 13-32 years), prevalence of short (<6 hours) and long (>10 hours) sleep durations, and differences in each by sex and race/ethnicity.

METHODS: Mean sleep duration and prevalence of extremely short and long sleep were estimated using data from the United States National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Waves 1-4 (N = 15,701).

RESULTS: Sleep duration showed age-related trends, with decreases across the adolescent period from 8.5 hours per night at age 13 years to 7.3 hours at age 18 years, an increase through the emerging adulthood period to 8.5 hours at age 22, and a gradual decline across early adulthood to 7.7 hours at age 32 years. Prevalence of extremely long and short sleep followed similar developmental trends. Adolescent girls reported lower mean sleep duration than did boys, but women reported longer average sleep duration than did men from age 19 years onward. Short sleep duration was most common among African-Americans at all ages. Long sleep was most common among African-Americans in adolescence and emerging adulthood and among Hispanics in early adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS: Sleep duration is developmentally patterned from adolescence through early adulthood. Mean and extreme sleep durations vary systematically by sex and race/ethnicity as well as age. These normative data on sleep duration will inform studies of the role of sleep in the etiology of a wide range of health conditions affecting adolescents and young adults.

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Developmental Trends in Sleep Duration in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Evidence From a National United States Sample

Abstract

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