Abstract

Chronic sleep problems, such as sleep loss and disrupted sleep, are associated with poor health outcomes and continue to contribute to the nation’s public health burden. Growing incidence of sleep problems among adolescents suggests thatthe nation’s youth may be at increased risk for short- and long-term health consequences. The intent of this brief commentary is to increase public awareness of the complex context that shapes the quality and quantity of adolescent sleep, to underscore the conclusion that adolescence is a particularly salient developmental period for prevention and intervention research, and to highlight the findings that adolescents of color may be at particularly high risk for negative health outcomes related to suboptimal sleep.