Adolescent Sleep Patterns: Biological, Social, and Psychological Influences

There is a growing concern in relation to the problem of insufficient sleep, particularly in the United States. In the early 1990s a Congressionally mandated commission noted that insufficient sleep is a major contributor to catastrophic events, such as Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez, as well as personal tragedies, such as automobile accidents. Adolescents appear to be among the most sleep-deprived populations in our society, though they are rarely included in sleep assessments. This book explores the genesis and development of sleep patterns in adolescents. It examines biological and cultural factors that influence sleep patterns, presents risks associated with lack of sleep, and reveals the effects of environmental factors such as work and school schedules on sleep. Adolescent Sleep Patterns will appeal to psychologists and sociologists of adolescence who have not yet considered the important role of sleep in the lives of our youth.

Table of Contents:
List of contributors; Foreword William C. Dement; Preface Mary A. Carskadon; 1. Sleep and adolescence: a social psychologist's perspective Stanford M. Dornbusch; 2. Factors influencing sleep patterns of adolescents Mary A. Carskadon; 3. Endocrine changes associated with puberty and adolescence Gary S. Richardson and Barbara A. Tate; 4. Maturational changes in sleep–wake timing: longitudinal studies of the circadian activity rhythm of a diurnal rodent Barbara A. Tate, Gary S. Richardson and Mary A. Carskadon; 5. Nutrition and circadian activity offset in adolescent rhesus monkeys Mari S. Golub, Peter T. Takeuchi and Tana M. Hoban-Higgins; 6. Toward a comparative developmental ecology of human sleep Carol M. Worthman and Melissa K. Melby; 7. Sleep patterns of high school students living in São Paulo, Brazil Miriam Andrade and L. Menna-Barreto; 8. Sleep patterns and daytime function in adolescence: an epidemiological survey of an Italian high school student sample Flavia Giannotti and Flavia Cortesi; 9. Risks of driving while sleepy in adolescents and young adults Mary A. Carskadon; 10. What can the study of work scheduling tell us about adolescent sleep? Roger H. Rosa; 11. Accommodating the sleep patterns of adolescents within current educational structures: an uncharted path Kyla L. Wahlstrom; 12. Bridging the gap between research and practice: what will adolescents' sleep–wake patterns look like in the twenty-first century? Amy R. Wolfson; 13. Influence of irregular sleep patterns on waking behavior Christine Acebo and Mary A. Carskadon; 14. Stress and sleep in adolescence: a clinical-developmental perspective Avi Sadeh and Reut Gruber; 15. The search for vulnerability signatures for depression in high-risk adolescents: mechanisms and significance James T. McCracken; 16. The regulation of sleeparousal, affect, and attention in adolescence: some questions and speculations Ronald E. Dahl; Index.

Review :
"During much of 1990 and 1991, Dr. Carskadon and I served on the National Commission on Sleep Disorder Research, which carried out a Congressionally-mandated study of the role of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders in American society. One of the the areas we examined was whether the facts about sleeping that we have known for more than two decades have actually been integrated into the educational system and the health care system. It was clear that crucial education about sleep need and biological rhythms, and sleep disorders likely to occur in adolescence, was completely absent.... There is an urgent need for researchers and clinicians in the area covered by this volume to cooperate, to arrive at a consensus, and to provide leadership.... Dr. Carskadon is certainly the outstanding leader in this area and she has assembled... leading researchers to produce a very important and long overdue book." from the Foreword by Dr. William C. Dement, Stanford University