Teens whose parents let them stay up after midnight on weeknights have a much higher chance of being depressed or suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime, says research being presented today at a national sleep conference.
The findings are the first to examine bedtimes’ effects on kids’ mental health–and the results are noteworthy. Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don’t require them to be in bed before midnight on school nights are 42 percent more likely to be depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier bedtime. Teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30 percent more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year.
