Why the study?
One in 5 adolescent Americans have experienced a major depressive episode, motivating an exploration of which sleep health and satisfaction aspects contribute most to teen depressive symptoms.
Population
1,097 teens (age 13-17) from a random, population-based sample
Comparison
Various sleep health variables and sleep satisfaction metrics
Design
Population-based survey study
Key result
Subjective sleep experiences, including difficulty falling asleep and daytime impairment, were more strongly associated with higher adolescent depression scores than sleep duration alone (all p<0.05).
Authors
Loading...
Highlights an association between poor sleep metrics and depressive symptoms;.
Cross-Sectional (n=1,097)
Yes
p-value: p=<0.05
Adolescent depression risk appears to be driven more strongly by subjective sleep experience and daytime impairment than by sleep duration alone.
Sterling et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Depression (n=1,097). Sleep health and sleep satisfaction variables was evaluated on Depressive symptoms assessed with the PHQ8 scale (sleep item removed) (p=<0.05). Subjective sleep experiences, including difficulty falling asleep and daytime impairment, were more strongly associated with higher adolescent depression scores than sleep duration alone (all p<0.05).