Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun;34(2):464-473.
doi: 10.1111/scs.12750. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

Malin Jakobsson  1 , Karin Josefsson  1 , Karin Högberg  1
Affiliations

Reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents: a content analysis

Malin Jakobsson et al. Scand J Caring Sci. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Sleeping difficulties are increasingly prevalent among adolescents worldwide and have negative consequences for adolescent health and education. The aim of this study was to describe the reasons for sleeping difficulties as perceived by adolescents. Sleeping difficulties include insufficient sleep, trouble falling asleep, waking up at night or sleep that does not leave an individual rested. Data were collected in 2015 using an open-ended question. The sample consisted of n = 475 adolescents from a city in Sweden, aged 15-16 years, with self-assessed sleeping difficulties. The results described the reasons for the adolescents' sleeping difficulties, at a general, thematic level, as an imbalance between requirements and preconditions, distributed to stress, technology use, poor sleep habits, existential thoughts, needs and suffering. To find a balance in their daily lives, adolescents may need support from parents, school nurses and school health services to deal with their sleeping difficulties.

Keywords: adolescent; content analysis; perception; questionnaire; sleeping difficulties.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gradisar M, Gardner G, Dohnt H. Recent worldwide sleep patterns and problems during adolescence: a review and meta‐analysis of age, region, and sleep. Sleep Med 2011; 12: 110–18. - PubMed
    1. Ghekiere A, Van Cauwenberg J, Vandendriessche A, Inchley J, Gaspar de Matos M, Borraccino A, Gobina I, Tynjälä J, Deforche B, De Clercq B. Trends in sleeping difficulties among European adolescents: are these associated with physical inactivity and excessive screen time? Int J Public Health 2018; 1–12. - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Pediatrics . School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics 2014; 134: 642–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Sleep Foundation . National Sleep Foundation Recommends new Sleep Times [Internet]. 2017, National Sleep Foundation, https://sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-reco... (last accessed 3 April 2019).
    1. Matricciani L, Olds T, Petkov J. In search of lost sleep: secular trends in the sleep time of school‐aged children and adolescents. Sleep Med Rev 2012; 16: 203–11. - PubMed