ReviewThe Journal of school health2016
School Start Times, Sleep, Behavioral, Health, and Academic Outcomes: A Review of the Literature.
Review in The Journal of school health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 120 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Delayed school start times to improve sleep duration and mitigate depression in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Sleep Duration and Sleep Patterns in Chinese University Students: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well-being of high school students.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- A one-hour delayed school start improves sleep, sleepiness and inhibitory control in early adolescents in a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Interplay of chronotype and school timing predicts school performance.Nature human behaviour · 2020Trial
- Sleep reductions associated with illicit opioid use and clinic-hour changes during opioid agonist treatment for opioid dependence: Measurement by electronic diary and actigraphy.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2019Trial
- A Web-Based Photo-Alteration Intervention to Promote Sleep: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Challenges in implementing and assessing outcomes of school start time change in the UK: experience of the Oxford Teensleep study.Sleep medicine · 2019Trial
- Multivariate associations between sleep patterns and self-regulation in adolescence: Canonical correlation analysis across ABCD and NCANDA cohorts.Chronobiology international · 2026Article
- Sleep Is Integral to School Health and Adolescent Wellbeing: An Evidence-Based Call to Action.The Journal of school health · 2026Review
- Examining the heritability of actigraphy-assessed and parent-reported sleep duration in a community sample of twins across childhood and adolescence.Sleep medicine · 2026Article
- Sleep as a moderator of adolescent brain development-evidence from a longitudinal MRI study.Sleep · 2026Article
- The interactions between sleep difficulties and clinical features in children with rare genetic syndromes: a structural equation modelling approach.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- School Start Times in Alabama.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Sleepy aggression: examining the interrelationships and mechanisms between sleep quality and aggressive behavior.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Late evening room light and sleep restriction reduces the ability of bright morning light to phase advance adolescents' circadian clocks.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A Meta-Analysis of Bi-Directional Associations between Sleep Health and Substance Use among U.S. Youth: Racial/Ethnic Differences.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Process Evaluation of a School-Based Intervention Promoting Sleep Health in Adolescents: A Mixed-Methods Study.The Journal of school health · 2025Article
- The Bidirectional Relationship Between Sleep Quality and Aggressive Behavior: Within-Person Mediated Effect of Self-Control.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2025Article
- The Role of Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Loss on Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Processes.Cureus · 2025Review
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInsufficient sleep in adolescents has been shown to be associated with a wide variety of adverse outcomes, from poor mental and physical health to behavioral problems and lower academic grades. However, most high school students do not get sufficient sleep. Delaying school start times for adolescents has been proposed as a policy change to address insufficient sleep in this population and potentially to improve students' academic performance, reduce engagement in risk behaviors, and improve health.
methodsThis article reviews 38 reports examining the association between school start times, sleep, and other outcomes among adolescent students.
resultsMost studies reviewed provide evidence that delaying school start time increases weeknight sleep duration among adolescents, primarily by delaying rise times. Most of the studies saw a significant increase in sleep duration even with relatively small delays in start times of half an hour or so. Later start times also generally correspond to improved attendance, less tardiness, less falling asleep in class, better grades, and fewer motor vehicle crashes.
conclusionsAlthough additional research is necessary, research results that are already available should be disseminated to stakeholders to enable the development of evidence-based school policies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.