Late-night teens 'face greater depression risk'

[ccharles000]

Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, New York research suggests.

Of 15,500 12 to 18-year-olds studied, those who went to bed after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went before 2200.

And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports.

It is estimated 80,000 UK children and young people have depression.

The researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York looked at data from 15,500 teenagers collected in the 1990s.

One in 15 of those studied were found to have depression.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8435955.stm

[dkf]

1. Or maybe they are depressed so they can't sleep.

Chickens and Eggs...

[iris27]

3. Yeah, when one of the symptoms of depression is sleeping less than normal

(or sleeping a lot MORE than normal), this correlation doesn't say much. Does X cause Y, or is Y causing X?

[lurky]

5. You would think a science writer for the BBC

would know the difference between correlation and causation. This is a huge pet peeve of mine.

[HuckleB]

6. You didn't read the article.

[Oregone]

2. No shit. Late night programming on the Tele is horrendous

Its enough to make a sane man streak a chicken factory singing Leonard Cohen

[dkf]

4. Watching the A&E Criminal Minds marathon is also bad for insomnia.

But I LOVE it anyway.