ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1594904
Sleep Patterns Among Middle School Students: A Three-year Longitudinal Study in the context of China's 'Double Reduction' Policy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Sports Health Sciences, Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China
- 2Department of Graduate, Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China
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Objective: This longitudinal study aims to describe the sleep pattern trajectories among Chinese middle school students over a three-year period. Methods: From December 2021 to December 2023, 82 middle school students were monitored for 2 weeks per academic year for a period of 3 years using the Huawei Band 6 wearable devices, and sleep parameters were collected at each stage and statistically analyzed. Results: For 82 middle school students, their sleep onset time gradually delayed over the years, leading to a yearly decrease in night sleep duration (Grade 7: 452.3±32.4 min; Grade 8: 432.9±38.6 min; Grade 9: 420.4±37.9 min, F=50.30, P<0.001). The incidence of sleep deprivation gradually increased (x²=17.09, P=0.0002). Over the three years, there were no statistically significant differences in wake-up time, sleep onset time, or night sleep duration between genders, and there was no interaction with time and gender. Sleep duration on rest days was significantly longer than on school days (P<0.001). There was a significant interaction between time and time type (rest day/school day) on daytime sleep duration, wake-up time, and sleep onset time (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study indicates that middle school students experience a gradual decrease in sleep duration over three years. Schools are advised to delay morning start times and enhance sleep hygiene education for students and parents as part of measures to address insufficient sleep among students.
Keywords: adolescent sleep1, sleep pattern2, "Double Reduction" policy 3, wearable device4, sleep deprivation5
Received: 19 Mar 2025; Accepted: 15 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dai, Huang, Zhao, Xu and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiansong Dai, 2003080031@nsi.edu.cn
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