Five Questions With: Mary Carskadon

MARY CARSKADON, a sleep researcher at Brown University, sees teens and adults ignoring the effects of getting too little sleep. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY
MARY CARSKADON, a sleep researcher at Brown University, sees teens and adults ignoring the effects of getting too little sleep. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY

Mary Carskadon is professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University. She studied for her Ph.D. under the mentorship of renowned Stanford sleep researcher Dr. William Dement, with whom she published dozens of peer-reviewed papers. She has also published widely on her own and with other peers. Most recently, she published a study indicating that boys and girls aged 9 to 15 were especially sensitive to light at night, compared to teens aged 11 to 16 who were farther into puberty.

PBN: Is there an identifiable trend in the prevalence of light-related sleep problems among teens?

CARSKADON: The longitudinal epidemiology data are not in yet; other evidence, however, points to a likely increasing trend. The number of light-emitting devices sold each year keeps growing, and there is little evidence that people, including parents and their children are cutting back on nighttime use. Such use almost inevitably leads to reduced sleep.

PBN: Could a feisty older teen use the results of this study to justify more in-bed screen time?

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CARSKADON: Feisty older teens pretty much do as they wish. The study, however, provides no scientific evidence or justification for in-bed screen time. Regardless of age, light in the late evening will push timing later, particularly if it is not offset by light in the morning, which can pull timing earlier. Few teens welcome bright light in the morning.

PBN: If the decision is arrived at that screen time is permitted for a teen, does dialing back the brightness represent a step in the right direction?

CARSKADON: It’s important to understand that the issues with ‘screens’ are not confined to the light that’s emitted. Most of the kinds of screens that teens have late at night are used for activities that themselves interfere with sleeping: games, email, social Web sites, texting, etc. These activities are arousing and keep teens (yes, adults, too) from falling asleep.

PBN: What are the health consequences of lost sleep for young teens?

CARSKADON: Chronic insufficient sleep in teens has been linked to depresse>d mood and depression, suicidal thoughts, lowered immune function (leading to more illness and more sick days), tendency for overweight and obesity, and increase in risk-taking behavior that can be associated with substance use and in older teens with car crashes.

PBN: Do you feel any level of alarm over the interruption of sleep that you’re seeing because of smart phones and the like?

CARSKADON: I would describe my feeling dismay rather than alarm. Many folks – grownups, too – are disrespecting sleep with screen use and make other excuses to muck about with their sleep and sleep schedules. It seems that as a society, we’ve lost the notion that sleep is important to health and well-being. As sleep science explores the issues more broadly, the number of health problems that have a link to inadequate sleep is growing day by day.

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