Adolescents who work while attending school are reported to sleep less than those who do not. This study aimed to identify factors associated with short sleep duration in students who work during the school year. A cross-sectional survey aiming to describe working conditions and occupational safety and health was completed by representative…

Circadian variations have been found in cognitive processes, such as attention, working memory, and executive functions, which may explain oscillations in the performance of many tasks. These cognitive processes improve during the day and decrease during the night and early hours of the morning. Sleep deprivation further decreases these cognitive…

In addressing the challenges faced by E-type (evening-type) students, researchers have pointed to the need for school schedules that reflect chronotypic concerns and the recognition of the importance of sleep for academic achievement and well-being. One approach to dealing with this issue for adolescent students has been to move the start of the…

In response to the scientific evidence documenting both profound developmental changes in sleep and circadian biology during adolescence and the myriad of negative health, performance, and safety outcomes risks associated with chronic sleep loss, at least 70 public school districts in the United States, representing approximately 1,000 schools,…

Although the environmental light/dark cycle is the main zeitgeber for the human species, the social cues seem to be important in the synchronization of circadian rhythms. In Brazil, the existence of two school schedules--one with only morning classes (MG) and other with only afternoon classes (AG)--allows the investigation of the effect of school…

Sleep in adolescents has been shown to be an important factor when looking at physical, mental, and social well-being. Little evidence is found regarding sleep patterns in adolescents from households facing extreme poverty, where conditions such as crowding, poor housing, sanitation or education, and precarious employment set an adverse…

Nighttime settling difficulties (i.e., bedtime resistance, sleep-onset delay) occur in about 25% of young children and are associated with attentional, behavioral, and emotional problems. We examined whether the timing of internal (endogenous) circadian melatonin phase (i.e., dim light melatonin onset; DLMO) and its relationship with…

Breakfast skipping is common in adolescents, but research on the effects of breakfast skipping on school performance is scarce. This current cross-sectional survey study of 605 adolescents aged 11-18 years investigated whether adolescents who habitually skip breakfast have lower end-of-term grades than adolescents who eat breakfast daily.…

More than ever before, leaders within the field of education are looking to research on basic processes to inform and improve educational practices. Success requires building a reciprocal relationship between the field of education and research on learning and development, similar to what exists between biology and medicine. Key to this effort is…

Circadian rhythms, in particular the sleep-wake cycle, modulate most, if not all, aspects of physiology and behavior. Their impact on education has recently begun to be understood, including a clear positive relationship between sleep and learning. In fact, sleep deprivation, common to adolescents throughout the world, has a deep effect on…

Daytime fatigue and lack of sleep seem to increase throughout adolescent years. Several environmental, psychological, and biological factors have been associated with the development of sleep across adolescence. The aim of the present article is to summarize these factors and to give examples of various outcomes in sleep patterns among adolescents…

In this article, we discuss school schedules and their implications in the context of chronobiological contemporary knowledge, arguing for the need to reconsider time planning in the school setting. We present anecdotal observations regarding chronobiological challenges imposed by the school system throughout different ages and discuss the effects…

This review examines the effects of military training regimes, which might include some degree of sleep deprivation, on sleep-wake schedules. We report a 4-year longitudinal study of sleep patterns of cadets at the United States Military Academy and the consequences of an extension of sleep from 6 to 8 hr per night at the United States Navy's…

Early morning school schedules are in the opposite direction to the sleep-wake cycle in adolescence and early adulthood. This conflict leads to sleep deprivation and irregular patterns whose consequences are scarcely explored. This article discusses the effects of three educational experiences with high school students, parents, teachers, and…

Cognitive performance is affected by an individual's characteristics and the environment, as well as by the nature of the task and the amount of practice at it. Mental performance tests range in complexity and include subjective estimates of mood, simple objective tests (reaction time), and measures of complex performance that require decisions to…