Teen Sleep Deprivation Climbs; Screens May Not Be the Cause
Mar 9th 2026
A JAMA analysis of nearly 121,000 US high school students finds widespread and worsening sleep loss by 2023, and it shows low screen time does not shield teens from the trend.
- By 2023 about 75% of US adolescents slept less than the recommended eight hours per night.
- The share of teens sleeping five hours or less rose from 15.8% to 23% since 2007.
- Teens with low screen time saw a larger rise in insufficient sleep than heavy screen users.
- Sleep loss increased across demographic groups regardless of mental health, substance use, or TV and social media time.
- Researchers point to structural drivers like early school start times, heavy extracurricular demands, and declining parental oversight and recommend both policy changes and sleep hygiene steps.