Dataset Information

The impact of COVID-19 related school shutdown on sleep in adolescents: a natural experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, high schools closed or transitioned to remote teaching. The aim of this study was to describe how the COVID-19 related school shutdown impacted the sleep behaviors of typically developing adolescents.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted between April 28 and June 3, 2020 with 45 adolescents using one-on-one semi-structured phone interviews.

Results

The "natural experiment" caused by the shutdown of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 2-h shift in the sleep of typically developing adolescents, longer sleep duration, improved sleep quality, and less daytime sleepiness compared to those experienced under the regular school-time schedule.

Discussion

These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that delaying high school start times could be an effective way to extend sleep duration, improve sleep quality, reduce daytime sleepiness and lower adolescents' stress during the school year. As many countries look for ways to reduce the number of interactions between students in schools so that physical distancing is feasible, following teens' delayed sleep biology could offer an affordable solution. For example, staggering arrival times by delaying school start time for older adolescents compared with younger adolescents can reduce the total number of students attending school at the same time. This strategy offers a practical means to reduce school density and the number of interactions between students which are needed to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 in schools, while improving adolescents sleep health.

SUBMITTER: Gruber R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7508172 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The impact of COVID-19 related school shutdown on sleep in adolescents: a natural experiment.

Gruber Reut R Saha Sujata S Somerville Gail G Boursier Johanne J Wise Merrill S MS

Sleep medicine 20200922

<h4>Objective</h4>During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, high schools closed or transitioned to remote teaching. The aim of this study was to describe how the COVID-19 related school shutdown impacted the sleep behaviors of typically developing adolescents.<h4>Methods</h4>A qualitative study was conducted between April 28 and June 3, 2020 with 45 adolescents using one-on-one semi-structured phone interviews.<h4>Results</h4>The "natural experiment" caused by the shutdown of schools ...[more]

PMID: 33070000

Similar Datasets

Project description:In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) world pandemic, affected countries such as Spain enacted measures comprising compulsory confinement as well as restrictions regarding free movement. Such measures likely influence children's and adolescents' lifestyles. Our study aimed to investigate the impact that the Covid-19 confinement has on health-related behaviors (HRBs) among Spanish children and adolescents. An online survey was administered to 516 parents to collect data about 860 children and adolescents (49.2% girls) aged between 3 and 16 years in relation to physical activity, screen exposure, sleep time, and fruit and vegetable consumption during the Covid-19 confinement. Respectively, t-paired test and t-test between groups served to check differences between HRBs levels before and during the confinement as well as between strict and relaxed confinement. Significant differences were found for a reduction of weekly minutes of physical activity during the confinement (?102.5, SD 159.6) (p < 0.001), an increase of daily hours of screen exposure (2.9, SD 2.1) (p < 0.001), and a reduction of daily fruit and vegetable consumption (?0.2, SD 1.6) (p < 0.001). Sleep time showed a significant difference between strict and relaxed confinement (?0.3, SD 0.1) (p < 0.05), whereas binomial logistic regression adjusted for covariates (age, sex, education of the parents, siblings, current condition, exposure to Covid-19, and previous health risk behavior) showed significantly lower odds for screen exposure risk behavior with relaxed confinement (OR 0.60, 95%CI 0.40–0.91). The present study suggests that Covid-19 confinement reduced physical activity levels, increased both screen exposure and sleep time, and reduced fruit and vegetable consumption. Therefore, most HRBs worsened among this sample of Spanish children and adolescents. Closure of schools, online education, and the lack of policies addressing the conciliation between labor and family life could have played an important role in HRBs worsening among pupils, which might be mitigated with adequate conciliation policies, parental guidance, and community support.

Dataset Information

The impact of COVID-19 related school shutdown on sleep in adolescents: a natural experiment.

Objective

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

The impact of COVID-19 related school shutdown on sleep in adolescents: a natural experiment.

Similar Datasets

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