Young adults who sleep fewer than eight hours each night are at an increased risk of psychological distress, indicates a study released this week by the George Institute for Global Health of the University of Sydney in Australia.
According to a study abstract, researchers relied on self-reported nightly sleep duration among 17- to 24-year-olds and found higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms among teens who reported less than eight hours of sleep each night. The risk of distress increased by 14 percent for each hour of sleep loss, and those reporting less than six hours of sleep each night were twice as likely to suffer psychological distress as average sleepers.
The study was published in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
