Overview

• Mass General Brigham researchers analyzed 44,161 self-reported surveys from adolescents aged 14–19 across the United States.
• Seventy-seven percent reported insufficient sleep on school nights, with 10% sleeping four hours or less, a group with nearly threefold higher odds of witnessing neighborhood violence.
• Shorter sleep correlated with higher odds of carrying a weapon, engaging in physical fights, being threatened or injured at school, and skipping school due to safety concerns, with the strongest links at four hours or less.
• A small subgroup sleeping 10 hours or more (1.6%) also showed elevated odds of both witnessing violence and engaging in violent behaviors, which authors suggest may reflect underlying conditions such as depression, anxiety, or sleep disorders.
• The peer-reviewed findings appear in SLEEP, with authors outlining plans for further research and community sleep-promotion efforts; the release notes no specific external grant and discloses consulting relationships for a senior author.