Screens, light and crowded homes cited as sleep disruptors#
Li'amanaia, who has studied sleep for four years, said parents and communities in Samoa told her that screen use, bright artificial lighting at night and crowded multi-generational homes had the biggest negative effect on children's sleep, according to Pacific Waves. She said the high rate of mental illness among Pacific young people was the problem the programme aims to address with what she called innovative solutions.rnz.co.nz 1 source for this line, starting with RNZ
Her response points to morning light rather than medication or screen bans. Li'amanaia said spending more time outdoors earlier in the day, when the light has a calming quality, is viewed as a healthy habit for sleep, and that young mothers in Samoa already use it to help settle infants and children, Pacific Waves reports.rnz.co.nz 1 source for this line, starting with RNZ
An unnamed daily habit already built into Samoan life#
Li'amanaia said the practice has no traditional name but is embedded in everyday routine, telling Pacific Waves that in Samoa people commonly rise early to walk while it is cooler, well before other parts of the day. She linked the habit to circadian rhythm systems that researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Auckland have been studying in relation to depression and anxiety in young people.rnz.co.nz 1 source for this line, starting with RNZ
The team is now seeking funding and writing grant applications to study more closely how the practice affects the mental well-being of Samoan youth, Li'amanaia told Pacific Waves.rnz.co.nz 1 source for this line, starting with RNZ
Wider research already ties sleep loss to teen brain changes#
The Samoa-linked project follows a broader body of findings connecting adolescent sleep disruption to measurable changes in the brain. PsyPost reports that a study published in the journal Sleep found teenagers whose sleep timing differs between school days and weekends show weaker connections and reduced volume in brain regions tied to attention, emotional regulation and reward processing, with researcher Matthew Risner of Boston Children's Hospital finding that more than 35 percent of adolescents studied had a schedule shift of two hours or more.psypost.org 1 source for this line, starting with psypost.org
A University of Zurich trial reported by ScienceDaily found that when Gossau Upper Secondary School introduced flexible start times, students woke about 40 minutes later on average and, because bedtimes stayed largely the same, slept roughly 45 minutes longer on school days, according to researcher Oskar Jenni.sciencedaily.com 1 source for this line, starting with ScienceDaily
