0944 National Sleep Foundation’s 2024 Sleep in America Poll: Sleep Health and Depressive Symptoms in Teenagers

Abstract Introduction A mental health crisis has been recognized among US teenagers, highlighted by high rates of mood disturbances. While a well-documented connection exists between sleep and mood, evidence largely comes from convenience samples of adults. Much less is known about the link between sleep and mental health in teenagers and even less is known about this important connection among the general teenage population. The overarching goal of the present study was to examine the associations among sleep health and depressive symptoms in teenagers. Methods A random sample of 1,124 US teenagers aged 13 to 17 years were recruited to complete surveys online in English or Spanish, including the Sleep Health Index, the Sleep Satisfaction Tool, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for adolescents, a commonly employed screening tool assessing the presence and frequency of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Data were weighted via iterative proportional fitting to approximate population distributions. Analyses included both z-tests and t-tests to examine depressive symptom differences between individuals with varying levels of sleep health. Results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Results Thirty-seven percent of 13- to 17-year-olds reported symptoms consistent with at least mild levels of depression and just 8 percent of teens reported achieving nightly sleep durations recommended by the National Sleep Foundation (i.e., 8-10 hours). Teens with minimal or no depressive symptoms reported significantly more weekday sleep (7.4 hours) compared to those with mild (7.0 hours) and moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms (6.6 hours; p’s<.05). Teens who were dissatisfied with their sleep were 22 percentage points more apt than sleep-satisfied teens to report moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms (27 vs. 5 percent, p<.05). Seventy-three percent of teens reported their emotional well-being was negatively impacted when they slept less than usual. Conclusion Sleep health and mental health are strongly linked in teens. When considering avenues to curb the teen mental health crisis, sleep health education should be a priority. Public health campaigns aimed at improving sleep health in teens should include efforts to start school later, reduce nighttime electronic use, and encourage family prioritization of sleep health. Support (if any)