United States: Adolescents who stay up late are more likely to do something self-destructive, as a new study highlights.
Researchers will share data at the AASM’s meeting, indicating that teens who sleep and awaken late are more likely to be impulsive than those who wake up earlier.
In contrast, experts explain that the association is unrelated to the teens’ inner circadian rhythms.
Melatonin, Not the Culprit
The scientists found that the levels of melatonin did not relate to the impulsivity found among teenagers.
According to the lead researcher Riya Mirchandaney, who is a doctoral candidate in clinical health psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, “Surprisingly, we did not find a significant link between dim light melatonin onset and impulsivity in our sample,” US News reported.
“This suggests that there may be unmeasured psychological or behavioral factors influencing both impulsivity and the self-assessment of circadian preference, regardless of the timing of an individual’s internal circadian clock,” she noted.
Teens Who Stay Up, Struggle
Rather, liking to stay up late late at night was associated with impulsivity, researchers noted. In order to complete the study, experts combined numbers from 210 teens taking part in two different trials.
They were given questionnaires to assess how impulsive they were, what kind of sleep patterns they followed, and what their melatonin levels were.
Those who like to stay up past midnight were more prone to rash actions when dealing with negative emotions, studies have revealed.
They were also prone to give up on their tasks when things became challenging rather than keep on working.
Sometimes, such quick decisions may cause people to use alcohol or harmful substances, Mirchandaney pointed out.
Accordingly, parents can assist their teens by persuading them to sleep during regular hours, scientists said.