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. 2023 Oct;12(10):2469-2475.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_803_23. Epub 2023 Oct 11.

Impact of school start time and sleep pattern of adolescents on their mood and sleep quality

Ruchi Singh  1 , Moutrisha M Roy  1 , Sunil Chouhan  1 , Ankur Joshi  2 , Nirendra K Rai  3
Affiliations

Impact of school start time and sleep pattern of adolescents on their mood and sleep quality

Ruchi Singh et al. J Family Med Prim Care. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: The physiological delay in bedtime among adolescents, compounded with the early start of school, results in insufficient sleep, especially on school days. The present study compared the sleep pattern and moods of students attending two schools with different start timing.

Materials and methods: The study involved adolescents from two schools with different start times: School A (7 am) and School B (8 am). Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, and Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale questionnaires were used to assess students' mood, sleep duration, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness. The clinical trial registry number is CTRI/2022/06/043556.

Result: A total of 640 students (mean age 13.7 ± 2.0 years; 47.5% male) participated in this study. Students from School B had longer sleep duration, with 72.9% reporting sleep deprivation compared to 87.1% of School A (P = 0.00001). School A students reported having (P ≤ 0.001) higher daytime sleepiness, higher daytime dysfunction (P = 0.023), and poorer sleep quality. Students at School A scored higher for all mood derangements, with significantly higher scores for depression (P = 0.041).

Conclusion: The study illustrates that though not much differences are observed in the bedtime of adolescents of the two schools, however, due to the early school start time of School A, students have to compulsorily wake up early, leading to higher sleep deprivation and greater mood derangements among them.

Keywords: Adolescents sleep pattern; daytime sleepiness; school start timing; sleep deprivation; sleep quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of total sleep duration of the students of classes 6 to 12 of School A and B
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of means of sleep quality of the students of class 6 to 12 of School A and B
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparative status of mood derangements among the students of two schools
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of depression scores of the students of classes 6 to 12 of School A and B
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of anxiety scores of the students of classes 6 to 12 of School A and B
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of stress scores of the students of classes 6 to 12 of School A and B
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effect of delayed bedtime on total sleep duration of students
Figure 8
Figure 8
Effect of delayed bedtime on sleep quality of students
Figure 9
Figure 9
Effect of delayed bedtime on daytime sleepiness of students
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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