Study Highlights Importance of Sleep for Mental Well-Being of Teenage Girls

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

A new study by researchers at The University of Manchester, using data from the #BeeWell survey, has found that sleep plays a crucial role in the mental well-being of adolescent girls.

Published in Quality of Life Research, the study tracked nearly 28,000 teenagers in Greater Manchester over three years and examined how sleep, physical activity, and mental well-being are connected.

It revealed that girls’ sleep and mental well-being are closely linked. When girls reported getting enough sleep, they reported better mental well-being one year later. Interestingly, this relationship was found to be reciprocal, meaning that better mental well-being also predicted the later sleep quality of girls. This connection was particularly strong between the ages of 12 and 14—a crucial time when mental health challenges can emerge.

For boys, sleep was also a predictor of their well-being, but the study did not find a reciprocal effect—well-being did not predict their later sleep quality.

The study also found that sleep patterns of girls were less stable than those of boys, suggesting that it may be a useful target for intervention.

Finally, the study found that for boys, well-being predicted their later physical activity levels.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-highlights-importance-mental-teenage-girls.html