The sample analyzed in the study was composed of more than 50,000 high school students who responded to a questionnaire about their sleeping habits and their engagement in five risky behaviors — infrequent use of bicycle helmets, poor seatbelt habits, riding in a vehicle with a drunk driver, driving drunk and texting while driving. The study was conducted nationally among students enrolled in grades nine through 12.
The results found students who got seven hours of sleep or less were significantly more likely to engage in all five risky behaviors. Students who reported sleeping 10 or more hours a night were more likely to drink and drive.
Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for adolescents, according to the report. Approximately two-thirds of these deaths are related to traffic accidents.
One of the study’s limitations is that researchers could not determine if sleep issues directly caused the teens to take dangerous risks, or whether both were reflective of depression, which has been previously linked to several injury-related risk behaviors.
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