CoV: Sleep disorders in boys have increased massively
“These are problems that we practically didn’t know about in children and adolescents before the pandemic,” explains the Salzburg sleep researcher Manuel Schabus, who, together with a team, carried out the study with a total of 2,232 young people in Austria.
Sleep problems in adolescents more severe
The survey was carried out in spring 2021 after around a year of Corona. Every third elementary school student (33.1 percent) complained about sleep disorders such as nightmares, problems falling asleep or sleeping through the night. This value was similarly high in the lower grades (35.2 percent), but among young people aged 15 to 18 it was almost half (45.8 percent). A survey before the outbreak of the pandemic shows how much the disturbances have increased: At that time, 13.3 percent of elementary school students still had problems, in the lower grades it was 20.5 percent and among young people 29.0 percent.
“Actually, there should have been an improvement because the children and young people could sleep longer thanks to lockdown and home schooling. But the effect did not take effect because of the stress caused by the pandemic,” says Schabus, who transmits the laboratory for sleep, cognition and consciousness research at the University of Salzburg.
Lack of exercise has also become drastic
However, the experts also surveyed other living conditions with frightening results: three quarters of all young people admitted that they had exercised less since the outbreak of the pandemic, almost every second person came out into the open less often and 85 percent of all probability statements came in that they spent more time with their smartphones and smartphones /or cook tablet.
Cognitive abilities suffer, immune system weakened
So what are sleep disorders in adolescents? “On the one hand, this leads to emotional irritation, the well-balanced children are hyper instead, which shows, for example, that they argue more easily.” In addition, there were cognitive findings that children are less attentive and less able to remember. In addition, the immune system is also attacked and weakened, which is reflected in an easier susceptibility to infections, explains the psychologist.
Adults in the focus of the second study
In a second study, Schabus and his colleagues selected the effects of the pandemic on the sleep behavior of adults in six countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, Ukraine, Cuba and Brazil), distinguishing between “essential” and non-essential occupations.
Duration of sleep shortened, no compensation at weekends
People in the second groups went to bed later, but still slept fifteen minutes longer each night during the week. The “social jetlag” – lack of sleep during the working week, which is at least partly reduced at the weekend – has naturally decreased. People with “essential” jobs also went to bed later and got up later during lockdowns, but slept no longer during the week and even less at weekends.
Researchers are looking for study participants
With another sleep survey (“How does Austria sleep?”), Schabus and his team now want to see whether the Austrians see a way out of the pandemic and how this is reflected in their sleep or how it compares to the lockdowns and more carefree ones times is slept.