October 3, 2023 – Starting a romantic relationship or breaking up can negatively impact adolescents’ sleep patterns, in accordance with a brand new study.
Researchers on the University of Pennsylvania studied 7,000 Chinese students who were in seventh, eighth or tenth grade in the beginning of the study. The teenagers filled out questionnaires about their romantic experiences previously yr and their sleeping habits.
The study was published in Behavioral sleep medicine.
The researchers also paid attention to age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, family socioeconomic status, parents' marital status and depressive symptoms of the teenagers.
The researchers found that insomnia increased by 41% amongst teenagers in the event that they had began a relationship, 35% in the event that they had experienced a breakup, and 45% if each had happened within the previous yr.
One yr later, the young people were interviewed again.
“When the adolescents were re-examined one year later, it was found that those who had entered into a relationship were 61% more likely to have new insomnia symptoms, and those who had experienced a breakup were 43% more likely to have new insomnia symptoms,” PsyPost reported.
The researchers found that romantic relationships affected sleep quality and quantity within the short term and a yr later. Stress, hormones and psychosocial development may play a job.
Children under 15 apparently had a harder time. And girls too.
“It is particularly important that the results are viewed through the lens of traditional Chinese culture. Relationship formation during adolescence deviates from societal norms, and therefore the stress of entering or ending a relationship may be exacerbated, which in turn may lead to increased sleep problems,” PsyPost wrote.
The study authors said further research is required to find out whether this is applicable to other cultures.
“The results suggest that SRR and breakups are associated with insomnia symptoms and short sleep duration, highlighting the importance of education about romantic relationships and managing romantic stress for healthy sleep, especially among early pubertal girls,” the authors write.