New research from the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University suggests that adolescents who catch up on sleep during weekends may reduce their risk of experiencing symptoms of depression. The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, examined individuals aged 16 to 24 and found that those who slept more on weekends had a 41 percent lower risk for depression symptoms compared to peers who did not.
The researchers analyzed data from the 2021-23 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants reported their sleep patterns and feelings, allowing the team to assess both weekend catch-up sleep—the difference between average weekend and weekday sleep—and signs of depression, such as feeling sad or depressed daily.
Melynda Casement, associate professor at the University of Oregon and director of its Sleep Lab, noted that while experts recommend eight to ten hours of sleep each night at consistent times, this is often unrealistic for many teens due to school demands, social activities, extracurriculars, and jobs. "Sleep researchers and clinicians have long recommended that adolescents get eight to 10 hours of sleep at a regular time every day of the week, but that's just not practical for a lot of adolescents, or people generally," Casement said.
Casement emphasized that getting enough nightly sleep remains ideal. However, if teens cannot achieve this during weekdays, sleeping in on weekends could help protect against depression symptoms. "It's normal for teens to be night owls, so let them catch up on sleep on weekends if they can't get enough sleep during the week because that's likely to be somewhat protective," she added.
The study is notable for focusing on U.S. adolescents; prior research primarily involved teenagers in China and Korea. The findings also highlight how circadian rhythms shift during adolescence—teens tend to fall asleep later at night until around age 18 or 20 before gradually returning to earlier bedtimes.
"Instead of being a morning lark you're going to become more of a night owl," Casement explained. "And sleep onset keeps progressively delaying in adolescence until age 18 to 20. After that, you start becoming more morning larkish again."
Early high school start times can conflict with typical teenage sleep cycles—most would naturally fall asleep around 11 p.m. and wake at 8 a.m.—leading some health professionals to advocate for later school start times.
Casement pointed out that depression is among the leading causes of disability for people aged 16 to 24 when considering impairment in daily functioning like missing work or being late. "It makes that age range of particular interest in trying to understand risk factors for depression and how those might relate to delivery of interventions," she said.
