Popular teenage girls get the least sleep, study finds

Girls are generally more emotionally invested in friendships, the study found – Westend61/Westend61

The most popular teenagers in school get the least sleep, especially girls, a study has found.

Scientists found that teenagers with the most friends sleep less than their peers and that they experience more symptoms of insomnia than popular boys.

Previous studies have shown that adolescents often find it hard to get to sleep at a time that would allow them to clock up the recommended eight to 10 hours of rest each night because of a later melatonin onset and increased alertness in the evening.

Researchers say it is also during the teenage years when increasing school demands, activities, more independence from parents, and relationships with peers begin to compete with sleep.

Australian and Swedish scientists wanted to find out how popularity levels affected the sleeping habits of teenagers aged 14 to 18.

Dr Serena Bauducco, a sleep researcher at Orebro University in Sweden, said: “Here we show that popular teenagers reported shorter sleep duration.

“In particular, popular girls – but not boys – reported more insomnia symptoms.

“Most interestingly, popularity also seems to negatively impact sleep both before and after the advent of smartphones.”

The research team asked a sample of 1,394 teenagers from 16 schools to name three up to three friends in school – those receiving the most nominations were defined as more popular.

Those teenagers slept less than their peers – the most popular ones up to 27 minutes fewer, according to the findings published in the journal Frontiers in Sleep.

More popular girls experienced more insomnia symptoms, such as difficulties falling or staying asleep or waking up too early.

Popular boys did not experience those symptoms to the same extent.

Phone use ‘is not the answer’

The differences between sexes are not yet fully understood, but the fact that boys and girls engage in differing friendship behaviours might offer insights.

Dr Bauducco said: “Girls express more care and concern with their friends and engage in helping behaviours more than boys.

“This might mean they carry these concerns when it’s time to fall asleep.

“We also see that popularity has been associated with worse sleep both before and after the development of handheld communication technology.”

She said the findings suggest that it may not be smartphones that cause popular teenagers to sleep less, rather other factors could be at play.

The research team speculate that more friends may mean more time dedicated to them which could result in less time left for sleeping.

They say more emotional investment could also lead to sleeping difficulties.

Dr Bauducco says both explanations would apply to times before and after smartphones became common, but would need to be investigated in detail.

She said: “Teenagers are arguably the most sleep-deprived population throughout the lifespan.

“Previous studies show that 30 minutes of extra sleep can lead to improved mental health and better school performance.”

With schools starting early, Dr Bauducco says many teens try to catch up on sleep on weekends – a strategy that can backfire.

She said: “Suppose a teen sleeps in on Sunday until 1pm.

“Falling asleep that night to be ready for school the next day will be a struggle, because they won’t feel tired.”

“Delaying wake-times too much can contribute to maintaining the problem of sleep debt racked up during the week.”

Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles – and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.