Stress and sleep

More than one-third of teens (35 percent) report that stress caused them to lie awake at night in the past month. And for teens who sleep fewer than eight hours per school night, many say their stress level has increased over the past year (42 percent), compared with 23 percent of teens who sleep at least eight hours per school night. In addition, 18 percent of teens say that when they do not get enough sleep, they are more stressed and 36 percent of teens report feeling tired because of stress in the past month. Thirty-nine percent of teens with higher reported stress levels (eight, nine or 10 on a 10-point scale) during the past school year feel even more stressed if they do not get enough sleep, while only 3 percent of teens with lower reported stress levels (one, two or three on a 10-point scale) during the past school year say the same.

When they do not sleep enough, more than half of teens (53 percent) report feeling sluggish or lazy and 42 percent say they feel irritable. Thirty-two percent say they are unable to concentrate and 23 percent report feeling no motivation to take care of responsibilities.

Teens with low stress during the past school year report sleeping more hours per night than do teens with high stress (7.8 vs. 6.9 hours).

Ninety percent of teens with low reported stress levels during the past school year say they get enough sleep, compared to less than half (48 percent) of teens with high reported stress levels during the past school year.

Teens with lower reported stress levels during the past school year are also more likely than highly stressed teens to say they have excellent or very good-quality sleep (59 vs. 22 percent). Teens with high reported stress levels during the past school year are more likely to report having trouble sleeping well — 43 percent say they do not get enough sleep because their mind races, compared to 9 percent of teens with low stress who say the same.

Teens who report experiencing high stress during the past school year are also more likely than those who report having low stress to say they feel the effects of getting too little sleep:

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