Why are teenagers who stay up late more impulsive?

Does not sleeping make us violent?

Perhaps so, or at least that's what a new study reports, suggesting that teenagers who tend to stay up late and delay their bedtime show higher levels of impulsivity, especially when faced with negative emotions or frustrating situations.

This relationship, however, does not appear to have its origin in the internal biological clock, but rather in behavioral or psychological factors.

The research, which will be presented at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) annual meeting, analyzed data from 210 adolescents across two complementary studies.

Participants completed questionnaires measuring both their impulsivity and sleep preferences, wore wrist-worn devices to record their nighttime habits, and provided saliva samples to assess levels of melatonin, the hormone that regulates circadian rhythms.

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The results were revealing: l Teenagers with a strong tendency to stay up late were more likely to engage in impulsive behavior, such as abandoning difficult tasks or overreacting to emotional situations. This impulsiveness could increase the risk of problematic behaviors, such as alcohol or drug use.

However, the most striking aspect of the study is what it didn't find. According to Riya Mirchandaney, lead author and doctoral researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, there was no significant relationship between evening melatonin levels and impulsivity.

"This suggests that there may be unidentified psychological or behavioral factors that influence both impulsivity and preference for nighttime hours, without necessarily being related to the adolescent's internal biological clock."

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Although the findings are still preliminary and will need to be validated through publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, the study provides a new perspective on the link between sleep habits and emotional self-control in adolescence.

With information from HealthDay specialist Dennis Thompson

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