A new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health shows that today’s teenagers are sleeping less than ever before.

The findings, which appeared in Pediatrics, showed a consistent decline in sleep across every age category. The latest figures revealed record-low sleep levels for all groups, with only 22% of older adolescents saying they slept at least seven hours each night.

“Some barriers to sleep faced by teens have existed across generations, such as the increased homework and extracurricular demands that come with high school, social pressures to stay up late with peers, and jobs,” said Rachel Widome, lead author on the study and a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

“Other issues, though, are new in recent years, such as increasingly ever-present screens and social media as well as recent society-wide stressors such as the pandemic, social unrest or militarized policing,” she added.

The study also reported growing gaps in sleep outcomes. Black and Latino teens, along with adolescents whose parents have lower levels of education, are becoming increasingly less likely to get adequate sleep compared with other groups.

The greatest impact was seen among older adolescents. Sleep time steadily declines as teens age, while both sleep duration and feelings of getting enough rest drop significantly from early adolescence to later teen years.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from Monitoring the Future, a long-running national survey representing more than 400,000 US students in grades eight, 10 and 12 from 1991 through 2023. Participants responded to two primary questions: how often they slept at least seven hours per night and how often they believed they were getting enough rest.

Insufficient sleep contributes to everyday exhaustion and inhibited functioning, while also being linked to longer-term issues such as mental health problems, struggles in school and chronic illnesses later in adulthood.

While surging screen time may seem like the obvious culprit, the root cause may point to deeper feelings of social isolation and burnout. Recent high school student-led research from Aim Ideas Lab showed that roughly two-thirds of California teens reported experiencing burnout and anxiety.

The same research suggested that around a quarter of students believe they only have enough time to meet basic needs, such as sleep, eating and hygiene, two days a week or less.

Jolie Delja, executive director of Aim Youth Mental Health, said that the respondents “connected this directly to relentless academic pressure”.

“They asked for time to slow down, and the chance to learn and practice coping skills like breathing and mindfulness during calm moments, not just crisis ones,” Delja said. “Schools and communities do not need to invent entirely new solutions. They need to give students more time and space for the people, activities and coping tools that already help them manage stress, including getting more sleep.”

Studies have also shown that teens who go to bed earlier and sleep for longer than their peers tend to have sharper mental skills and score better on cognitive tests.

Although researchers say there is no single nationwide fix, they point to broader structural approaches that could help large groups of adolescents. One approach that the researchers suggest is to delay high school start times to 8.30am or later. “Earlier starts are in direct conflict with preset rhythms of adolescent circadian biology,” Widome said.

“A nation of sleep-deprived adolescents is not inevitable,” she added. “We should embrace a culture of sleep, where sleep is actually valued and where we commit to enacting policies and other interventions that promote healthy sleep for everyone.”