A study published in Psychiatry Research examined the association between insufficient sleep and suicidal ideation among US adolescents.
About three in four American adolescents had less than eight hours of sleep on an average school night.
Controlling for all other predictors, the odds of experiencing suicidal ideation were 1.35 times higher for adolescents who had insufficient sleep relative to those who had sufficient sleep on an average school night.
Physical activity was inversely associated with suicidal ideation.
The authors recommended sleep be targeted in interventions aimed at preventing suicide.
We believe it is critical to improving youth mental and physical health to go a step further by recommending that the goal of increasing the quantity and quality of sleep be regularly included in mental health promotion and substance use prevention programs for adolescents in the US.
Read the research abstract: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178119313125
Learn more about evidence-based substance use prevention programs that also promote increasing sleep and other health-enhancing behaviors among youth and young adults: http://preventionpluswellness.com