A new study to be presented at the annual sleep meeting 2025 revealed that adolescents who become moderate – but not excessive – the catch -up sleep on weekends have fewer symptoms of anxiety.
The results show that adolescents who slept up to two more hours on weekends than on weekdays had fewer symptoms of anxiety compared to those who did not sleep any longer on weekends. However, longer periods of catch-up sleeping on weekends were associated with slightly more internalized symptoms.
“The results show that the two sleep less on weekends than on weekdays and sleeping much more on weekends were associated with higher anxiety symptoms,” said the main author Sojeong Kim, a doctoral student from the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychology Graduate Advisor to Oregon University in Eugene. “On the other hand, moderate catch -up – defined as less than two hours – was associated with lower anxiety symptoms, which suggests that a weekend recovery sleep can be beneficial.”
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends teenagers from 13 to 18 years old to sleep regularly from 8 to 10 hours to promote optimal health. However, CDC data show that only 23% of secondary students sleep enough an average school night.
“Many teenagers are trying to catch up with sleep by sleeping on the weekend,” said Kim.
It is constantly associated with better results for health, in particular attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life and mental and physical health. On the other hand, insufficient sleep in adolescents is associated with increased risks of problems such as depression and suicidal thoughts.
The study involved 1,877 adolescents with an average age of 13.5 years. The duration of sleep was estimated using Fitbit devices, while the internalization symptoms were evaluated using the survey on the children’s behavior control list. The weekend catch-up sleep was calculated as the difference between the weekend and the duration of sleep during the week.
Kim noted that it is important to identify the right amount of catch -up sleeping which is beneficial for adolescents who restrict their sleep during the week.
“Too little or too much of the sleep variability of the day of the week to the week can contribute to the symptoms that someone is trying to fight, like physical or mental fatigue and feelings of anxiety,” she said.
The research summary was recently published in an online supplement of the Sleep journal and will be presented on Wednesday June 11, during sleep in 2025 in Seattle. Sleep is the annual meeting of associated professional companies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.
Abstract title: The ideal point for the weekend’s catch-up sleep: a protective factor against depressive symptoms?
Abstract: 0263