Nineteen students received light therapy during the last two weeks of November and the last two weeks of February. Via computer administered and hand written tests researchers assessed neuropsychological performance.

Tests were administered to students three times per day from November 10 through November 22 and again from February 16 through February 27. The times for the tests were as follows (6:30-8:00 AM), (11:30 AM to 1:00 PM), (3:00-4:30 PM), on each of the test days.

Results
Subjects lost on average a total of 120 minutes of sleep per night during weekdays after the start of school and slept an average of 30 minutes more per day on the weekend after the start of school. Light therapy did function as a synchronizing agent on the study participants nor was not associated with better performance in any of the domains measured such as vigor, alertness, and mood. It did not increase the amount of hours of sleep received. Parallel to adolescent circadian rhythms participants were more alert in the afternoon and performed better on tests administered later in the day.

Conclusions
Early school schedules contribute to sleep loss in high school adolescents. As the study shows students were at their peak later in the day as a result of the delay in their sleep cycles. Exposure to light therapy did not increase the amount of hours of sleep received during weekdays.

Researchers recommended changing school start times so that they run in tandem with adolescents’ sleep/wake patterns. They also suggested administering standardized tests no earlier than 10:00 am. Finally they recommended increased education on the sleeping needs of adolescents. This effort should be geared toward all individuals involved with them (pediatric doctors, parents, and teachers).

Researchers stated "Both short-term and long-term strategies that address the epidemic of sleep deprivation among adolescents will be necessary to improve health and maximize school performance."

Sleep Study in Elementary Aged Children

According to a recent survey in the Journal of School Health many elementary and middle school age children are not getting enough sleep.

In the study which questioned 200 students, the majority of respondents indicated that they did not sleep enough during the week. Teacher reports showed that many students either yawned or slept in class. They also indicated several behavioral problems attributed to the students’ sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is known to cause mood swings and cause changes in individual behavior.

Thirty nine percent of the children reported not sleeping enough 2 to 4 days per week while 25% stated they slept to little 5 to 7 times per week.

Investigators stated that most parents of students in the study were not aware that their children were staying up late and ignoring their bed time. Children with a computer or a television were most likely to stay up late and not get enough sleep.

Children should get 10 to 11 hours of sleep per night said the leader of the study Denise Amschler, PhD. She maintains that "good sleep is as important as daily exercise and proper nutrition."

While most children said that they had bedtimes of 9:00 pm (21:00) to 10:00 pm (20:00) most did not adhere to their parent’s instructions.

Other findings of the study

a) 1/3 of students yawned during the day
b) 20% were hyperactive
c) 1/6 complained about a lack of sleep.

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(courtesy: Amazon)