Mental health has worsened for U.S. teenagers over the last decade, with a federal survey finding around 40 percent reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023 compared to 30 percent in 2013.
That same year, data from the Health Resources and Services Administration showed more than one in five adolescents suffered from a diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition.
Now, researchers at the University of Oregon say they’ve found a practice that can help boost young Americans’ mental health.
Sleeping in on the weekends was found to lower the risk for symptoms of depression by 41 percent for Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 years old, researchers at the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University found.
“Sleep researchers and clinicians have long recommended that adolescents get eight to 10 hours of sleep at a regular time every day of the week, but that’s just not practical for a lot of adolescents, or people generally,” Melynda Casement, a licensed psychologist and associate professor at the University of Oregon, explained in a statement.
The researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2021-23 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included times the adolescents woke up and went to bed during the week and weekends, as well as if they were experiencing symptoms of depression or felt sad or depressed daily.
They calculated the subjects’ weekend catch-up sleep, as well as the difference between the average sleep per weekend day and the average sleep per weekday.
While the researchers did not speculate about how sleeping in on weekends was able to positively impact the adolescents’ mental health, they noted that the age group is disproportionately impacted by poor sleep and that their regular pattern of sleep starts to shift during those years making it harder for them to fall asleep before early school start times.
“Instead of being a morning lark you’re going to become more of a night owl,” Casement noted. “And sleep onset keeps progressively delaying in adolescence until age 18 to 20. After that, you start becoming more morning larkish again.”
While the best thing for teenagers’ health is to get the recommended amount of sleep each night, Casement said their strategy could be an option for these night owls.
Previous research has shown that American teenagers are getting less sleep than 20 years ago — largely due to electronic devices — with a June 2025 study finding adolescents who got fewer hours had less connectivity between the parts of the brain that play a critical role in decision making, self-reflection and processing information.
Malfunctions in these parts of the brain are linked to mental illnesses such as depression, ADHD and schizophrenia, according to the University of Georgia.
