Contemporary Variables that Impact Sleep and Development in Female Adolescent Swimmers and Gymnasts

Abstract

The effects of sleep on elite athletes in late adolescence and early adulthood have been well documented in a myriad of sports. However, there is underrepresentation of pre-pubertal and young female adolescent athlete research between the ages of 11–17, and specifically female gymnast and swimmers. Neglecting to understand how high energy demand at a young age relates to sleep and restoration may lead to developmental ramifications for this group, as they display physiological dysfunctions like delayed puberty, amenorrhea and are at risk for the female athlete triad or components of the triad. This review aims to summarize the contemporary variables of blue light emitting screens, social media, and caffeine on quality and quantity of sleep in young athletes while identifying gaps in the literature on how these factors impact the target group of young female swimmers and gymnasts. The implications of this work include sleep hygiene recommendations for increasing duration and quality of sleep, as well as future research with respect to electronic device usage, social media participation, caffeine consumption, and sport engagement in female early adolescent athletes.

Likes and hashtags: Influence of athlete social media use

“…Performance data suggests that coaches, trainers, sports psychologists, and physicians encourage athletes to disengage from social media at least 2 hours prior to competition to avoid mental fatigue [17]. Young female athletes specifically should be warned about the risks of poor sleep quality and quality related to nighttime social media scrolling that can affect athletic performance [15]. Social media training would likely benefit athletes at all levels.…”

“…Social media use is shown to disturb both sleep quality and quantity, especially among young adults and teens [6, 14, 15, 16]. The reason for decreased sleep quality and quantity related to social media use is likely multifactorial; researchers are currently exploring connections between sleep deficits and hormonal imbalances, disruptions to circadian rhythms due to light wavelengths emitted by electronic devices, and increased sleep latency due to stress or arousal from social media [10, 15, 16]. Nighttime social media use independently predicts poor sleep quality [16].…”

“…College student athletes reporting more than five hours of social media use showed far worse sleep [3]. Studies on gendered differences in sleep and social media use show positive correlation between stress caused by social media use and sleep latency in young females [15]. Thus, current research has shown negative consequences to overall sleep with social media use; additional research has illuminated the relationship of poor sleep and performance.…”

“…Limited data show that social media use by athletes affects body image, stress levels, sleep quality and athletic performance [7, 10, 15, 17, 21]. These apps can also foster engagement and connection, secure financial support, and build team cohesion; thus, social media use must be viewed on a continuum [10, 12].…”

Specificity and Diversity of Athletic Ability Needs Among Professional Gymnasts

“…The experimental and control groups were trained simultaneously and in different venues for 30 days and 2 hours a day. 3 The experimental group received 25% functional physical training + 25% traditional physical training + 50% special technical training+. 4 The control group received 50% traditional physical training + 50% special technical training.…”