Purpose The overall aim was to clarify and better characterize the sleep/circadian patterns of adolescents in a nationally representative sample. Methods Three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was used to assess sleep/circadian patterns of 2700 adolescents (in grades 7–12). Results Late school year bedtime was associated with shorter total sleep time (TST) cross-sectionally, while late summertime bedtime was not. Moreover, late school year bedtime was not associated with late summertime bedtime cross-sectionally. Late school year bedtime in wave I (1994–1995) was associated with worse educational outcomes and emotional distress six to eight years later. Additionally, late summertime bedtime in wave II (1996) was associated with more emotional distress at wave III (2001–2002). Short TST was not associated longitudinally with changes in emotional and academic functioning. Across waves I and II, more than three quarters of adolescents who went to sleep at 11:15 p.m. or later during the school year or 1:30 a.m. or later during the summer reported sleeping fewer than the recommended nine hours. Conclusions These findings underscore the significance of evaluating and monitoring bedtime in adolescents and the importance of intervention strategies that target bedtimes in an effort to reduce associated functional impairments, and improve academic and emotional outcomes.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is an effective treatment for prenatal insomnia disorder.

Insomnia is a major public health concern, and is highly comorbid with a broad range of psychiatric disorders. Although insomnia has historically been considered a symptom of other disorders, this perspective has shifted. Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that insomnia is related to the onset and course of several psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, several randomized controlled trials show that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia delivered to individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for insomnia and another psychiatric disorder improves the insomnia as well as the symptoms of the comorbid psychiatric disorder. Taken together, these results encompassing a range of methodologies have provided encouraging evidence and point toward insomnia as a transdiagnostic process in psychiatric disorders.

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The results highlight bedtimes as a potential target for weight management during adolescence and during the transition to adulthood.