School-Based Sleep Education Interventions for Adolescents
Summary
School-based sleep education interventions aim to address widespread sleep insufficiency among adolescents by embedding structured learning and behaviour-change strategies within the educational curriculum. Such programmes typically combine didactic lessons on sleep physiology and the consequences of sleep deprivation with practical components—such as goal setting, self-monitoring and parental engagement—to foster healthier sleep habits. Delivery models range from teacher-led modular courses to digital and peer-facilitated workshops, often supplemented by take-home materials for families. Key objectives include raising awareness of sleep hygiene, shifting attitudes towards prioritising sufficient rest, and equipping young people with skills to manage barriers such as late-night screen use and academic pressures. Evaluations consistently report marked gains in sleep knowledge, with more modest but measurable improvements in sleep quality, sleep onset latency and daytime alertness. Tailoring content to local school contexts and involving adolescents in co-development have emerged as critical success factors, reinforcing the broader public health goal of embedding sleep promotion within existing school health frameworks.
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School-Based Sleep Education Interventions for Adolescents publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in school-based sleep education interventions for adolescents across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Sleep hygiene: Personal and environmental practices that support quality sleep, including regular schedules, limiting stimulating activities before bedtime and maintaining a comfortable sleep environment.
Actigraphy: A non-invasive method using a wrist-worn sensor to estimate sleep–wake patterns over extended periods through movement monitoring.
Participatory action research: A collaborative methodology engaging end users—in this context, adolescents and school staff—in all stages of intervention design to ensure relevance and ownership.
Insomnia symptoms: Subjective difficulties in initiating or maintaining sleep, or experiencing non-restorative sleep, leading to daytime impairment.
References
- The Teensleep study: the effectiveness of a school-based sleep education programme at improving early adolescent sleep. Sleep Medicine X (2019).
- Evaluating the feasibility of delivering a sleep education programme in secondary schools. Health Education Journal (2023).
- Combining participatory action research with intervention mapping to develop and plan the implementation and evaluation of a healthy sleep intervention for adolescents. Health Promotion Perspectives (2023).
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