Mark Herz: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. With summer vacation just around the corner, kids across the Commonwealth are gearing up for summer vacation and a break from the school routines. But how healthy is that lack of structure, especially when it comes to sleep? With changing bedtimes and more screen time, summer can be disruptive to kids and the entire family. To help us answer those questions, we’re joined by Dr. Gene Beresin. He’s a child psychiatrist and the executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. Good morning, Dr. Beresin!

Dr. Gene Beresin: Good morning. How are you?

Herz: Good, and we’re happy to have you here to help us try and figure some of this stuff out. So to start us off, why are healthy sleep habits so important for still-developing brains?

Beresin: Well, they’re important for all brains. They’re especially important for developing brains. You know, the brains don’t fully develop until age 26. And what young people need are good night’s sleep, for a number of reasons: for emotional regulation, for proper thinking and reasoning. Interestingly, for their physical health, including their immune functions, for their energy, motivation, persistence, their interests, they need a good night sleep.

Herz: Well, tell us more about the impact that unstructured sleep schedules can have on young people.

Beresin: Well, you know, it doesn’t provide them a sense of security. So, in other words, the lack of sleep can cause anxiety and depression, but anxiety and depression and loneliness can actually affect sleep. So, it’s a two-way street. So, that’s super important to understand. As much as kids say, for example, you know, “I really don’t like going to school.” Okay, but what school provides them is a structure.

Herz: So how do caregivers and families help kids — and I imagine it’s different if you’re talking about elementary school kids versus teens — how do they help them keep a structure going and avoid some of these deleterious effects that you’ve outlined?

Beresin: Well, you know, I think it’s very important for all families to have conversations. Conversations with each other about sleep, about activities, about energy, about what they’re doing, all sorts of things. But sleep is one of them. And we rarely talk about sleep. And so we mutually set guidelines. So for example, things like getting good exercise, reducing stress ... this is a tough one for all of us, turning off the blue screens. The blue screens actually keep us awake. Other things like spending time together, doing things that are fun, you know actually try to help them in a general sense. Their general well-being will enhance sleep. Now this is opposed to kids who have a specific disorder called summer seasonal affective disorder. It’s one that we don’t often talk about. Most people know about seasonal affective disorder in the winter. You’re sleeping more, you’re eating more, you’re anxious, depressed. But there actually is a form of summer seasonal affective disorder and it involves actually not getting enough sleep or trouble with sleeping. The causes of it are complicated, but in the winter you produce more melatonin, which is why you’re sleeping more. In the summer you actually can produce less melatonin, and by producing less melatonin you have a harder time getting to sleep.

Herz: Well, one last question, you know, I wanted to zero in on teens in particular, because I think we all know a teen who, you know, summer comes around, maybe not even summer sometimes, and they’re sleeping till noon or later. If they’re staying up late and they want to sleep in, is it better to just let them get the sleep? What do you do?

Beresin: Yes, it’s better. Look, remember when you were a teenager. One of the joys of being a teenager, especially on weekends or in the summer, is that sometimes you’re going to stay up late with friends. You’re going hang out with them, watch a movie, if you’re old enough go for a ride, take a walk, and then sleep in. Getting the right amount of sleep, if it doesn’t disrupt other activities, if it doesn’t disrupt family life, is very important because we can make up on sleep that’s lost. It was once thought that you couldn’t catch up if you lost your so-called REM sleep or your restorative sleep. Now we know that you can, and letting them sleep in is okay.

Herz: Dr. Gene Beresin is a child psychiatrist and the executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. Thanks for joining us.

Beresin: Thanks a lot for having me.

Herz: This is GBH.

With summer vacation just around the corner, kids across Massachusetts are gearing up for a break from school and their typical routines. But how healthy is a lack of structure, especially when it comes to sleep?

“[Sleep habits] are important for all brains. They’re especially important for developing brains,” said Dr. Gene Beresin, a child psychiatrist, on GBH’s Morning Edition. “You know, the brains don’t fully develop until age 26. And what young people need are good night’s sleep, for a number of reasons: for emotional regulation, for proper thinking and reasoning.”

Beresin, who leads the Boston-based Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, added that sleep can also impact physical health, including the immune system, energy levels and motivation to complete daily tasks.

According to a 2022 study from the National Institutes of Health, kids who sleep fewer than nine hours a night had more mental health and behavioral challenges than those who got enough sleep.

In more serious cases, a lack of sleep can cause anxiety and depression, Beresin said.

“But anxiety and depression and loneliness can actually affect sleep. So, it’s a two-way street,” he said. “So, that’s super important to understand. As much as kids say, for example, you know, ‘I really don’t like going to school.’ OK, but what school provides them is a structure.“

When it comes to managing your child’s schedule and habits over the summer, he says parents should talk to their kids.

”Conversations with each other about sleep, about activities, about energy, about what they’re doing, all sorts of things,“ he said. ”But sleep is one of them. And we rarely talk about sleep. So for example, things like getting good exercise, reducing stress ... [and] this is a tough one for all of us, turning off the blue screens.“

Other suggestions include spending time together and doing fun activities.

”Actually try to help them in a general sense,“ he said. ”Their general well-being will enhance sleep.“

New research shows, too, that you can catch up on lost sleep — so letting children and teens sleep in isn’t a problem, Beresin said.
 
”One of the joys of being a teenager, especially on weekends or in the summer, is that sometimes you’re going to stay up late with friends. You’re going hang out with them, watch a movie, if you’re old enough go for a ride, take a walk, and then sleep in,“ he said. “Getting the right amount of sleep, if it doesn’t disrupt other activities, if it doesn’t disrupt family life, is very important because we can make up on sleep that’s lost.”