Staying Healthy Parents News Now Study: Teens May Need Less Sleep Than Previously Thought By Holly Lebowitz Rossi Published on February 21, 2012 Share Tweet Pin Email National guidelines recommend at least eight hours of serious snooze time a night for young people. But that's an unrealistic goal for adolescents, who are overloaded with homework, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs, experts say. Or who feel the need to stay up late texting friends or updating Facebook.In fact, if standardized test performance is any indication, 16-year-olds score best with about seven hours of sleep a night, surprising new research finds.Brigham Young University economists Eric Eide and Mark Showalter -- who are also dads -- used a nationally representative sample of 1,724 students, comparing children's and teens' standardized test scores with the amount of sleep they reported.For older teens, seven hours a night was plenty. The optimal amount of sleep for 12-year-olds was higher, about eight hours, while 10-year-olds did best with about nine hours. The report appears in the current issue of the Eastern Economics Journal. Image: Sleeping teenage boy, via Shutterstock. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit