Associations between sleep habits and different impulsivity facets in adolescence.
Typical teens who stay up late show slightly more snap reactions when upset—check sleep timing in your assessments.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Panjeh et al. (2025) asked teens about their sleep habits and their impulsive choices.
The teens were neurotypical, aged 11-18. They filled out two short surveys at school.
One survey showed if they were morning larks or night owls. The other showed how often they act without thinking when upset.
What they found
Night-owl teens scored a little higher on one kind of impulsivity: negative urgency.
Negative urgency means doing something fast when you feel bad. The link was small but real.
Morning or evening preference did not connect to other impulsive traits like risk taking.
How this fits with other research
Nevin et al. (2005) showed kids with ADHD pick smaller-sooner rewards more than typical kids. Sareh’s team now shows even typical night owls lean toward fast, mood-driven choices.
Prehn-Kristensen et al. (2011) found sleep helps kids with ADHD lock in new motor skills. Together the papers hint that both sleep timing and sleep quality shape self-control, but in different ways.
Zhuang et al. (2025) used lab tasks and saw bigger impulsivity in ADHD plus gaming disorder. Sareh used simple questionnaires and saw a weaker effect, showing method matters.
Why it matters
If your teen client is a night owl, watch for quick, angry reactions. Add calming routines before bed and teach pause skills when upset. A short sleep-screen may explain sudden behavior spikes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Sleep patterns change during adolescence due to physiological maturation and psychosocial factors, leading to progressively higher eveningness, sleep deprivation and social jetlag (SJL). These sleep changes are associated with impulsivity, a common behavioral trait in adolescence which can make those with developmental disabilities more vulnerable to behavioral, cognitive and clinical difficulties. However, it is unclear which aspects of sleep and what types of impulsivity are involved. AIMS: To investigate the relationships between sleep/circadian variables and self-reported impulsivity. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Three sleep/circadian variables (time in bed on weekdays, eveningness and SJL) and five dissociable facets of self-reported impulsivity (UPPS-P scale) were answered by 389 healthy 9-17-year-olds (225 girls). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: A significant (but small) association between eveningness and a multivariate composed of the five facets of impulsivity (5 % of variance explained) was found and negative urgency was the main driver (4 %) of this relationship. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Typically developing adolescents with high eveningness traits display slight difficulty controlling their behavior when in a state of negative affect. This finding deserves an in-depth investigation in youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities, who are more prone to presenting sleep/circadian changes, externalizing problems like impulsiveness and internalizing one such as mood alterations.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.104962