Nephi Seo ’23, Biological Sciences, Winter 2020
Researchers found that bad sleep habits can also have a negative impact on mental health, especially for adolescents.
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Many people frequently stay up late at night and sleep in the next day, although they know that these habits can have adverse effects on productivity and growth. This tendency has only increased with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic; without having to attend school in person the next morning, more and more students are staying up at night. Unfortunately, researchers found that bad sleep habits can also have a negative impact on mental health, especially for adolescents. (University of Ottawa, 2020)
Scientists at the University of Ottawa performed an experiment using 80 total adolescent and adult mice, 40 of which were male and 40 of which were female. These mice either had their sleep disrupted for the first four hours of each rest cycle or were allowed to rest normally for eight consecutive days. Afterwards, the depression symptoms of these mice were assessed. By analyzing hormonal receptors, they found that sleep-disrupted adolescent mice expressed greater signs of depression than sleep-disrupted adult mice and that among the sleep-disrupted adolescent mice, female mice released more stress hormones than male mice. (Murack et al., 2020)
Why did female mice exhibit greater signs of depression than male mice? Although the mechanism is not clear, other findings indicates that there are sex differences when it comes to responding to stress. Research shows that when human males and females are subjected to stress, females express greater levels of plasma adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), which signals the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Furthermore, cortisol levels were found to last longer in women although cortisol levels in both men and women may be the similar. Thus, sex differences in the experience of depression may be a result, at least in part, to cortisol activity in the endocrine system. (Gallucci et al., 1993)
Although there is a need for further research involving human subjects, these findings have general implications for the public. It is clear that forming better sleep habits should be a priority for teenagers, especially teenage women. Although schools have shut down (to either the dismay or glee of students) and students feel less pressure to adhere to a schedule, forgoing late nights in exchange for more sleep is the better choice in the long run.
References
- Gallucci, W. T., Baum, A., Laue, L., Rabin, D. S., Chrousos, G. P., Gold, P. W., & Kling, M. A. (1993). Sex differences in sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 12(5), 420–425. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.12.5.420
- Murack, M., Chandrasegaram, R., Smith, K. B., Ah-Yen, E. G., Rheaume, É., Malette-Guyon, É., Nanji, Z., Semchishen, S. N., Latus, O., Messier, C., & Ismail, N. (2020). Chronic sleep disruption induces depression-like behavior in adolescent male and female mice and sensitization of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in adolescent female mice. Behavioural Brain Research, 113001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2020.113001
- University of Ottawa. Poor sleep can lead to depression in adolescents. (2020, December 7). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201207150447.htm