Sleep-in Science: How 2 Extra Weekend Hours Can Calm Teen Anxiety

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

A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting found that teens who get moderate — but not excessive — catch-up sleep on weekends have fewer symptoms of anxiety.

Results show that teens who got up to two more hours of sleep on weekends than on weekdays exhibited fewer anxiety symptoms compared with those who did not sleep longer on weekends. However, longer durations of catch-up sleep on weekends were associated with slightly more internalizing symptoms.

“The results show that both sleeping less on weekends than weekdays and sleeping substantially more on weekends were associated with higher anxiety symptoms,” said lead author Sojeong Kim, a doctoral candidate in the department of clinical psychology and psychology graduate advisor at the University of Oregon in Eugene. “In contrast, moderate catch-up sleep — defined as less than two hours — was associated with lower anxiety symptoms, suggesting that some weekend recovery sleep may be beneficial.”

The study involved 1,877 adolescents with a mean age of 13.5 years. Sleep duration was estimated using Fitbit devices, while internalizing symptoms were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist survey. Weekend catch-up sleep was calculated as the difference between weekend and weekday sleep duration.

Kim noted that it is important to identify the right amount of catch-up sleep that is beneficial to teens who restrict their sleep during the week.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented during SLEEP 2025 annual meeting in Seattle.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250613013854.htm