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Samira Pashayeva

Tim Waggoner

ENG 1201, Section 513

July 30, 2020

Effects of Inadequate Sleep on a Child’s Mental Health and Academic Performance

“Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together” quoted by Thomas

Dekker, an English Elizabethan playwright (Brainly Quotes). Less than 50% of children attending

school in the United States of America received recommended sleep hours most school nights

(American Academy of Pediatrics). This is a very important topic for people to read and educate

themselves about because more than half of children have to deal with a kind of sleep disorder.

Sleep is a very important component for a child because his or her brain is still developing.

Inadequate sleep can result in children to not function both physically and cognitively. It can

affect a child's mental health and academic performance negatively because sleep is needed

for a developing child's brain to function correctly. Lack of sleep can cause depression and

could make children feel restless.

During ancient times the different groups, such as the ancient Egyptians, ancient Greeks,

and ancient Romans described sleep in diverse ways (Thomas). They would name the Gods who

they believed caused dreams to the people who were sleeping (Thomas). Greek physician,

Alcmaeon, suggested that sleep occurred because the brain did not have enough circulation of

blood around 450 BC (Thomas). Aristotle believed that awareness occurred at the heart,

however, Galen was able to prove that it was the brain. Throughout several years new

discoveries were found, such as neurons in the 1900s and rapid eye movement (REM) in 1925
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by Nathaniel Kleitman. With the help of an electroencephalogram which was discovered in

1924, how the electrical waves in the brain, while a person was sleep and awake differed was

found (Thomas). Several years later in 1959, Michel Jouvet discovered how the two sleep

stages, REM and NREM, were different from each other. A new theory was proposed by Tonoi

and Cirelli in 2003 called the synaptic homeostasis theory. Several studies on the association

between sleep and remembrance of a person, as well as, an association between lack of sleep

and judgment and motor problem were conducted (Thomas). Overall, understanding of how

sleep affects a person’s brain has been discovered and evolved with the use of the new

technologies being found.

There are several vocabularies and processes that are needed to know to understand the

research found. Sleep consists of three stages of NREM and then REM sleep. The first stage is

NREM sleep which is when a person experiences a shift from being awake to falling asleep. The

duration of this stage is very brief because it only goes on for a few minutes. This stage consists

of light sleep where the person’s heartbeat, breathing, and movements of the eyes decrease.

The muscles of the body also relax, but there are periodic movements (“Brain Basics:

Understanding Sleep”). The second stage is also NREM sleep, but now the person is shifting

from stage 1 and stage 2 of sleep to a sleep that is considered as being deep. The person’s

heartbeat, as well as, breathing slows down. His or her eyes stop moving, the body relaxes and

a decrease in body temperature occurs (“Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep”). A person

experiences the second stage of sleep more than any of the other stages. The third stage is

again NREM sleep as well and is where the person experiences the deep sleep that causes him

or her to feel energized when they wake up. REM sleep is considered as the last stage while a
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person is sleeping and occurs 90 minutes right after the person is sleeping for the first phase.

During this stage rapid eye movements occur, breathing of a person becomes rapid and

nonuniform, and the heart rate, the brain activity, and the blood pressure of the person rises up

to what would be considered as nearly waking up (“Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep”). A

person experiences these stages, both REM and non-REM, repeatedly throughout the night

while they are asleep.

The structure of the brain is also very important in understanding how the brain functions

when a person is asleep. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that has several groups of

nerves with the function of acting as a control center. The suprachiasmatic nucleus is located

within the hypothalamus. When light is reflected in a person’s eye, this information is received

by the suprachiasmatic nucleus and helps to control a person’s behavioral pace (“Brain Basics:

Understanding Sleep”). The brain stem and the hypothalamus do teamwork to manage the shift

that occurs from waking up to sleep (“Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep”). The pineal gland

receives signals from the suprachiasmatic to increase producing melatonin, which is a hormone

that helps people fall asleep (“Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep”). The basal forebrain further

assists with the sleep process, while the amygdala’s function is to process the person’s

emotions. The amygdala becomes very active during the REM sleep stage (“Brain Basics:

Understanding Sleep”). There have been many studies linking sleep with cognitive ability and

mental health in children. Knowing the parts of the brain and their functions are important

because magnetic resonance imaging, also known as MR, and computed tomography scan, also

known as CAT scan, have been used to study how sleep affects different areas of the brain.
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According to Joseph Buckhalt, MRI has been used in studies to study brain areas such as the

different cortexes in the brain (Buckhalt).

Inadequate sleep can affect a child's mental health and cognitive performance

negatively because sleep is needed for a developing child's brain to function correctly.

Children between the ages of 6 to 12 years need around 9 to 12 hours of sleep, and between

the ages of 13 to 18 years need around 8 to 10 hours of sleep each day (University of

Warwick). In the United States, over half percent of adolescents do not get sufficient hours of

sleep. According to Fan Jiang’s article “Sleep and Early Brain Development”, sleep has a vital

role in the brain development of children and plays a very important role in cognitive and

psychosocial development (Jiang). It also takes part in an important role in the learning process

of a person, memory, and creative thinking, as well as, a person’s mental health, such as his or

her emotions. When a person gets sufficient enough of sleep, they feel restful and their brain

and mind are focused. In contrast, lack of sleep causes the amygdala to be activated to a

greater magnitude than normal and causes a smaller amygdala-prefrontal connection which

causes the cognitive control over emotional areas of the brain to be lacking (Jiang). Not only

does the child feel restless and tired when he or she does not get enough hours of sleep, he or

she also feels more negative emotions when he or she awakes. Based on the sleep cycle,

emotions and moods are affected by REM sleep because throughout this stage the activation

between hyper-limbic and hypoactive dorsolateral frontal, and function of the medial

prefrontal cortex are needed to be able to deal with emotions (Jiang). Therefore, sleep is a very

important process for children because their brains are still in the process of developing and

constantly reorganizing (University of Warwick).

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Further, inadequate sleep can result from many factors, such as extensive electronic

usage time, childhood experiences ranging from abuse to neglect, or mental health conditions,

such as depression or sleep disorders. These factors can affect the quality and duration of sleep

a child experiences which in turn affects their mental health and cognitive performance. A

common sleep disorder is sleep apnea, which is prevalent in 1 to 5% of children. Another

common sleep disorder is nightmares and sleepwalking while sleep and. The prevalence for

these is 10 to 50% and 17%, respectively. Behavioral insomnia is another sleep disorder and it is

common in 10 to 30% of children (Carter, Hathaway & Lettieri). Among children delayed sleep

phase (DSP) is the most prevalent, and it is when a child experiences a hard time falling asleep

and waking up. Overall, these factors can cause negative consequences for a child because they

can experience irritability, behavioral and mental issues, and difficulty learning in school or

other settings thus resulting in their negative academic performance.

Also, poor sleep can cause depression and could make a child feel restless which

would affect the child's mental health and cognitive performance negatively. Depression

affects many parts of a person, such as moods, thoughts, and physical functions. According to

Hoi See Tsao, persistent and constant loss of sleep is a very important public health issue

among children (American Academy of Pediatrics). This is because not getting enough sleep is

shown to be linked with physical and mental health problems. These problems could result in

depression and being overweight, as well as, affect a person’s mood, attention span, and

educational performance negatively (American Academy of Pediatrics). Moreover, Buckhalt also

mentions how depression has been found to be a higher component of all areas of mental

health to be linked with sleep after surveying a sample of children and using MRI scans.
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According to the study, there is an association between depression and sleep duration of a

child, however, it is negative. A positive association was found between the amount of sleep

and cognitive performance of a child. Based on the study’s findings children showed a decrease

in depression, but an increase in cognitive scores when they slept for an extended period of

time. On the other hand, children who slept less showed higher depression, but lower cognitive

performance (Buckhalt). Based on the study children who slept fewer hours than

recommended by pediatrics displayed a decrease in areas and volume of certain parts of the

brain that are involved with the process of sleep. Areas such as the orbitofrontal, prefrontal,

temporal, medial orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortexes, as well as, other areas were

affected (Buckhalt). All in all, a bidirectional association was discovered between sleep and the

mental health of a person when the study was conducted again a year later on the same

children.

Moreover, it has also been shown that children with delayed sleep phase have shown more

depression and alcohol use, as well as, poor cognitive performance. Delayed sleep phase is

when a person’s sleep is detained above what is considered as being acceptable or sufficient.

When a child experiences a delayed sleep phase, he or she is not getting enough hours of sleep

during the night which affects his or her routine during school hours. A study was conducted by

Sivertsen, Glozier, Harvey, and Hysing to determine if there is an association between the

variables of delayed sleep phase and educational performance. Based on their findings, there is

a negative association between educational performance and delayed sleep phase. A group

with delayed sleep phase performed worse than group with no delayed sleep phase because

the delayed sleep phase group has a 3.5 GPA, while the no delayed sleep phase has a GPA that
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is 0.4 points higher. The first two quartile percentage for no delayed sleep phase was much

lower than delayed sleep phase, whereas, third and fourth quartile percentages for delayed

sleep phase was now lower than no delayed sleep phase (Sivertsen et al). This can cause a

snowball effect because lack of sleep can result in school absence which then would affect their

academic performance, negatively (Sivertsen et al).

Figure 1 A study by Sivertsen et al for effect of delayed sleep phase on educational performance

to show that DSP is correlated with a larger chance of a child having reduced school orderliness

and reduced conduct.

Being absent from school would mean that the child is missing the lessons being taught and

could struggle to catch up on the work they missed out on during school hours. Missing schools

also means more extra work that needs to be done outside of school hours, such as homework
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and tutoring to be able to catch up to the rest of the class and not be left behind in the

material.

Further, it was found that children who did not get the all of the 9 hours of sleep during the

schools nights had 44% greater odds of showing any interest in learning about new things, 33%

greater odds of a child doing all his or her homework with 28% greater odds caring about their

academic performance and 14% greater odds of a child not completing a task they began

(American Academy of Pediatrics). Another study conducted on how the duration of sleep

affects a child’s mental health and cognitive performance found that children who slept fewer

than 7 hours performed behavioral problems 53% higher on average than the other children

who receive the advised 9 to 12 hours of sleep. These children’s cognitive performance was

also lower on average by 7.8% (University of Warwick).

There were some ideas where there seem to be disagreements or different ways of thinking

between the sources. The article by the University of Warwick argues that the amount of sleep

affects the depression and cognitive performance of a child negatively. While an article by Diaz

et al argue that children with high effortful control can get better and make up for the

challenges they experienced in their learning process due to inadequate sleep (Diaz et al). The

University of Warwick bases its claim on statistics conducted by a professor from their

university. Diaz et al base their claims on the statistics of the study they conducted. While there

are credible evidence and reliability in both sources, their purpose and focus of research are

different. University of Warwick’s article appeared on ScienceDaily and their purpose was to

prove how the amount of sleep can affect a child’s mental health and cognitive performance.

Diaz et al’s article appeared on NCBI, and their purpose was to take a different approach to
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examine how sleep affects children. Their goal was to assess the association between sleep and

academic performance of children while trying to lessen the effortful control (Diaz et al). Both

of the articles seem to have a similar purpose; however, their claims and results are very

different. However, a study was conducted by Sun, Ling, Zhu, Lee, and Li on the association

between the difference of school night to non-school night’s sleep with academic performance

and health issues in children. Sun et al found that based on the nine studies they measured,

there was a relationship between the difference in bedtime and academic performance. The

correlation coefficient to demonstrate the relationship between the difference in bedtime and

academic performance was a negative 0.15. with significance below 0.001. They also found that

major bedtime differences can cause poor attendance and sleep duration. The correlation

coefficient to show the association between the amount of sleep a child slept and academic

performance was negative 0.08 with significance below 0.001. Increased sleep duration

difference also has shown to be relating to an increase in stress level and causing the child to

have low self-esteem. Having a negative correlation coefficient means that the two variables

are inversely related, as one increases the other decreases. The p < 0.001 indicates that the

data is statically highly significant because there is less than one in a thousand chance of the

data being wrong. To conclude, even though Diaz et al’s article is reliable and supportive, the

University of Warwick’s and Sun et al’s studies show that there is a relationship between hour-

long a child sleeps and his or her academic performance and mental health. 

In conclusion, there have been many studies conducted in regard to how sleep affects a

child psychologically and his or her academic performance. It has been shown that mental

health affected by sleep can cause poor academic performance and vice versa. There are
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numerous conditions that affect how a person sleeps. These conditions, such as sleep apnea

and nightmares, could affect a child's sleep which in turn could affect his or her mental health.

The major mental health issue that has been found by many studies is depression. A child’s

mental health and academic performance can be largely impacted by the duration of sleep. A

child’s brain needs a sufficient period of time to sleep to be able to correctly work, and not

experience restlessness. Not getting adequate hours of sleep can cause depression, which is a

form of mental health issue. As mentioned previously, more than 50% of children experience

sleep disorders that affect their lives. Children should be monitored and put into sleep

schedules to be able to maintain a good and productive life. Having a sleep schedule would help

the child to determine a sleeping pattern and not struggle to fall asleep or be distracted by

other objects, such as technologies. Parents should monitor their children’s sleep schedules so

that their children receive the recommended hours of sleep each night.  
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Works Cited

Academy of Pediatrics. “Only half of US children get enough sleep during the week.”

ScienceDaily, 25 Oct. 209,

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191025075604.htm. Accessed 30 July

2020.

“Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 13 Aug. 2019,

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/understanding-

Sleep. Accessed 30 July 2020.

Buckhalt, Joseph A. “Sleep, Brain Development, and Mental Health in Children.” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 12 Feb. 2020,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/child-sleep-zzzs/202002/sleep-brain-

development-and-mental-health-in-children. Accessed 30 July 2020.

Carter, Kevin, et al. “Common Sleep Disorders in Children.” American Family Physician, 1 March

2014, https://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0301/p368.html. Accessed 30 July 2020.

Diaz, Anjolii, et al. “Children’s Sleep and Academic Achievement: The Moderating Role of

Effortful Control.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, U.S. National Library

of Medicine, 1 March 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5327793/. Accessed

30 July 2020.

Dekker, Thomas. “Sleep that is golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.”

BrainyQuote, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_dekker_204715. Accessed

30 July 2020.
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Jiang, Fan. “Sleep and Early Brain Development.” Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, vol. 75, no.

Suppl 1, June 2020, pp. 44-54. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1159/000508055.

Sivertsen, Borge, et al. “Academic Performance in Adolescents with Delayed Sleep Phase.”

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Sun, Wangi, et al. “Associations of weekday-to-weekend sleep differences with academic

performance and health-related outcomes in school-age children and youths.” Sleep

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Thomas, Liji. “History of Sleep.” News Medical Life Sciences, 23 Aug. 2018, https://www.news-

medical.net/health/History-of-Sleep.aspx. Accessed 30 July 2020.

University of Warwick. “Children’s mental health is affected by sleep duration.” ScienceDaily, 4

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Accessed 30 July 2020.