Sleep Deprivation in Pre-Teens Impacts Neuro-Cognitive Development

Sleep deprivation can prove devastating at a young age. Without proper rest, young students lack the focus to perform in school and extracurriculars. But could sleep deprivation impact pre-teens;; neuro-cognitive development as well?

Unfortunately, yes. Eva Carlston Academy reviews that while many pre-teens overload themselves with academic and extracurricular activities, the resulting sleep deprivation threatens their cognitive and emotional development to such an extent as to potentially cause learning disorders and emotional struggles later on in life. The obvious solution is to get more sleep. However, the situation is more nuanced than that. To reach a proper solution, parents and their pre-teens must first uncover the root of the problem.

How Common is Pre-Teen Sleep Deprivation?

Sleep deprivation among pre-teens is a global issue. According to research, South Korean teens struggle the most to achieve adequate rest, averaging a mere 4.9 hours of sleep per night. In the United States, they fare slightly better, yet only receive 2 more hours by the time they finish high school.

The issue appears to begin just after pre-teens’ sixth year of school. At that point, most American students get between 8 and 9 hours of rest with every sleep cycle, perfectly within the standard recommendations. As they begin pursuing harder studies and additional extracurricular activities, their sleep begins tapering off.

By the time they reach high school, the American Psychological Association reports that only roughly 15% of students get enough sleep. Once upon a time, experts believed that people simply needed less sleep as they matured. Today, however, they recognize this as a flawed hypothesis.

Negative Effects on Cognitive Development

The belief that teens and adults need less sleep stems from observation rather than fact. Experts saw teens getting less sleep, and simply assumed they didn’t need it. They now realize they were not observing proof that no problems existed with these sleep schedules but were rather witnessing evidence of the problem itself.

Studies on youths ranging from 9-year-old children to high schoolers consistently demonstrate that insufficient sleep creates complications in the subjects’ neuro-cognitive development. Pre-teens who fail to rest adequately may develop a number of cognitive and emotional issues as they age, including:

 Diminished problem-solving abilities
 Reduced memory capabilities
 Lowered concentration or focus
 Lack of impulse control
 Persistent depressive disorders
 ADHD
 Chronic fatigue
 Generalized anxiety
 Bipolar disorder

These issues may lead to any number of problematic behaviors later in life. Pre-teens who suffer these long-term symptoms may be more likely to drive recklessly, engage in substance use, or utilize risky sex as an unhealthy coping mechanism. Since sleep deprivation affects metabolism, they are also more prone to weight gain, which may exacerbate depression.

Making Sure Pre-Teens Get Enough Sleep

One of the greatest roadblocks to helping pre-teens get enough sleep is that many young students resist the solution. If they frequently cram for tests after a long afternoon of extracurriculars, the quickest solution is to lighten their load. However, due to a mixture of external pressure and internal desire, many pre-teens show reluctance to cancel a single activity.

First, parents must learn to objectively monitor the expectations they’ve put upon their child. They must make clear that revising one’s schedule for the sake of maintaining adequate health does not amount to “quitting” or “giving up” It is rather an acceptance of reasonable limitations.

Second, parents and pre-teens must understand that the benefits of a lighter schedule outweigh the perceptions of failure. Cramming at night may help students pass a single test, but smaller study sessions followed by a full night of sleep will more effectively allow students to retain knowledge long after the test is over.

Conclusion

While it is not inherently bad that parents and their pre-teens aim for high achievement, the sleep deprived manner in which many continue to go about it does more harm than good. No child should accept lifelong mental health struggles simply for the sake of passing a class. Failure to accept reasonable limitations will only lead to far more debilitating setbacks.