Sleep: A Game Changer for Youth Athlete Wellbeing.

Background: Youth athletes may have reduced opportunities for sufficient sleep, and often report poor mental health and wellbeing.

Hypothesis: Most youth athletes obtain less than recommended duration and quality of sleep, with associated reduced wellbeing.

Study design: Prospective observational study.

Level of evidence: Level 3.

Methods: Sleep was monitored in 98 youth athletes (15.19 ± 2.08 years) for 8 consecutive weeks. Wellbeing was self-reported weekly using the Multicomponent Training Distress Scale (MTDS) and the Short Recovery Stress Scale (SRSS).

Results: Adolescent athletes averaged 7.0 (±1.1) hours sleep per night, but did not meet recommended daily sleep duration (ie, ≥8 hours) on >80% of nights studied. Significant sleep disturbances were detected in 40% of participants. Total sleep time measured via actigraphy was associated negatively with MTDS depression (all values given as [β; CI)] (-0.50; -0.95-0.05), stress (-0.78; -1.23-0.33) and sleep disturbance (-0.62; -0.97-0.27) subscales and overall score (-2.57; -4.27-0.87), and the SRSS stress subscale (-0.82; -1.50-0.15) (P < 0.05). Subjective sleep quality measured via sleep diaries was associated positively with all MTDS scores including depression (0.85; 0.50-1.19), sleep disturbance (1.04; 0.72-1.35), and physical symptom (0.60; 0.13-1.08) subscales, and the SRSS stress subscale (1.67; 0.91-2.43), and negatively with SRSS recovery subscale (-1.02; -1.64-0.41). Fatigue ratings before bed and upon awakening were associated positively with all MTDS subscales and the SRSS stress subscale (1.23; 0.74-1.71) (1.26; 0.79-1.74) (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Many adolescent athletes do not meet current sleep recommendations, and inadequate duration and/or quality of sleep in this population is associated with poorer self-reported wellbeing.

Clinical relevance: Education surrounding sleep in youth athletes should emphasize the importance of adequate sleep, alongside the maintenance of regular sleeping patterns to promote wellbeing and mental health.