New Australian research indicates that adolescents’ vulnerability to insomnia increases their likelihood of developing depression.
Led by Flinders University in Adelaide, the paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Psychology suggests that a combination of adolescent sleep biology and psychology makes young people vulnerable to developing depression.
Lecturer at the School of Psychological Sciences at The University of Western Australia (UWA) and co-author of the paper, Dr. Cele Richardson, said a delayed circadian rhythm, restricted sleep duration, and greater likelihood of negative thinking while trying to fall asleep were all contributing factors to this susceptibility to depression.
“Adolescents are the most chronically sleep-restricted subpopulation across human development, in both western and eastern societies, with data from across the world suggesting they sleep too late and too little,” she said….