Sleep deprivation in young people a growing problem

The autumn semester's edition of the JU LIVE lecture series continues with Malin Jakobsson, Assistant Professor at the School of Health and Welfare at Jönköping University (JU). Malin talked about her research, which mainly focuses on sleep in relation to adolescent health.

The title of the afternoon lecture was “Sleep deprivation in young people: A growing problem” and Malin started by talking in general about the importance of good sleep for humans and what happens when we don't get it. She listed six contributing factors to sleep difficulties among children and adolescents that she has identified in her research, through surveys, dialogues and interviews.

“Trapped by circumstances”

Social media, friends, family, norms, school, and body development are all things that young people have cited as reasons for experiencing sleep difficulties. Adolescence is not an easy period in life, you want to know who you are, who you are expected to be, who you should be and who you will become.

Malin says that in her research, children and adolescents have expressed that there is a lack of involved parents who take an interest in their sleep problems. Personalized, not generic, advice is needed to give children and young people the opportunity to talk and explain their sleep problems. Having a safe place to sleep at home can also be crucial, such as a cosy bedroom or a teddy bear. In some cases, it can be as simple as learning to cope with silence, as everyday life can be busy and noisy.

The Late School Start research project

Malin also talked about her latest research project, Late School Start, which involves secondary school pupils in Borås and Vaxholm starting school at 09:00 instead of 08:00. The project has been carried out before at an international level and has shown positive results in terms of improved mental health, well-being, and school performance. The study is being carried out using questionnaires and in-depth studies throughout the school year. To ensure comparable results, another school in Borås serves as a control school, where students start as usual at eight in the morning.

Lectures that include the public

It was Malin's first time lecturing at JU LIVE and she was pleased with the afternoon. Mainly, she thought it was great that there was an interested and active audience that wanted to start a dialogue through questions and thoughts.

“The concept of JU LIVE is great. I want to reach out to the public with my research and if we can make our research a little more popular science to include society, it is only positive,” says Malin.

The couple Gunvi and Stig Martin Carlsson are regular guests at JU LIVE. They appreciate both the mix of topics at the lectures and that the event is held at the university library, which they think is a cosy and pleasant place for the public.

“We got a lot out of just one hour, both an interesting lecture and time for questions from the audience,” says Gunvi Carlsson.

Sleep research itself was nothing new to the couple, but focusing on the experiences and perspectives of children and young people when it comes to sleep is something they take with them from the Thursday lecture.

“It's great that the university is reaching out to the public through JU LIVE. Sometimes there's a watertight seal between the university and society, but here we're building a relationship with the people,” says Stig Martin Carlsson.