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Sleep

https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/what-teachers-parents-and-students-should-know-about-teenagers-and-sleep1704.html

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/why-one-teenager-may-need-more-or-less-sleep-than-another

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/teenagers-and-sleep

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/teens-are-getting-less-sleep-which-raises-heart-disease-risk-2018062614130

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/10/among-teens-sleep-deprivation-an-epidemic.html

https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-adolescent-health/_docs/policy-briefs/mental-health/Teens_Sleep.pdf

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/the-adolescent-brain-beyond-raging-hormones

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=3051

Mood Swings

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/10/14/448658923/younger-teens-suffer-most-from-turbulent-mood-swings

https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/mood-swings-and-puberty

Impulsive Behaviour

https://depts.washington.edu/uwleah/sites/default/files/seminarFiles/95_the_teen_brain_behavior_problem_solving_and_decision_making-1.pdf

http://psych.colorado.edu/~mbanich/p/SensationSeekingandImpulsivity.pdf

https://parenthetical.wisc.edu/whats-so-unique-about-the-teenage-brain/

Relationships

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_the_teen_brain_transforms_relationships

http://actforyouth.net/sexual_health/romantic.cfm

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additionally, the level of closeness and support that adolescents have with their parents and siblings has a great influence of the quality of their current/future relationships.

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An adolescent's view towards intimacy, commitment and how they navigate their relationships are more likely to be altered if they come from a divorced household.

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Also, having relationships (platonic and/or romantic) with people who are older and/or sexually experienced/active, makes an adolescent more inclined to begin having sex and becoming sexually active as well.

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This in turn, may lead to the individual to become aggressive towards their romantic partners.

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For instance, exposure to, and witnessing aggression in relationships are likely to have an adolescent individual perceive this as normal behavior in romantic relationships.

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Moreover, Witnessing the relationships of others, such as the relationships of one's parents or between peers, can also play a factor in how an adolescent may go on about navigating their own potential relationships; and their quality.

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the type of people that adolescents chose to associate themselves/ have relationships with, as well as the quality of those relationships, can have a big impact on a their development, actions, behavior and current/future relationships (both romantic and platonic).

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During the leap from childhood to adolescence, and the teenage years that come forth, attachment, dependency and relationships with peers become more prominent, important and necessary for an adolescent's well-being.

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What plays a factor in the quality of an adolescent's relationship(s)?
And how do relationships affect their development?

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in addition, exposure to drugs and alcohol, as well as brain injuries, can have a very negative effect on an adolescent's brain development; and can heighten their impulsivity.

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This strong response coupled with the underdeveloped frontal cortex, leads teens to become more likely to indulge in more impulsive behaviors/actions in order to gain the positive and pleasurable feeling that dopamine provides.

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Adolescent brains have a very strong response to dopamine.

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A major factor in impulsivity in adolescents is the release of dopamine (The pleasure/reward hormone)

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The amygdala is the part of the brain that is responsible for fear, as well as aggression.

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When it comes to problem solving and decision making in teenage brains, actions are primarily made by the amygdala instead of the frontal cortex.

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In fact, it doesn't fully develop until you're 25 years old.

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The rational part of the brain that controls controls reasoning (The frontal cortex) doesn't fully develop until later.

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Why are teenagers so impulsive?
And why do they sometimes engage in risky behaviors?

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And with this, their mood swings start to calm down and are no longer as unstable as they once were.

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But luckily, as an adolescent and their brain matures more, they gain the emotional development that they require.

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So as emotions become more stronger and intense, adolescents often lack the emotional maturity and mental capacity to efficiently deal with them.

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The part of the brain that plays a part in regulating emotions is usually the last part of the brain that reaches full development (The Frontal Lobe).

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This then makes it difficult teenagers to properly cope with and handle their emotions in a stable manner; causing them to have more frequent mood swings.

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During the years of adolescence, the brain's cognitive control system lacks proper emotional development.

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Why are teenagers so moody?
And why do they have so many mood swings?

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Obtaining the proper amount of sleep is fundamental to the mental and physical well-being of a growing adolescent and their growing brain.

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Deprivation of sleep can also trigger pre-existing mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression.

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Diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression are just some of the health problems that adolescents can develop.

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With a lack of a proper amount of sleep adolescents run the risk of developing various health problems; both mental and physical.

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This causes most teenagers to develop chronic sleep deprivation.

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Despite this, most teenagers typically only get about 6 - 7 hours of sleep a night.

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In addition, teenagers need just as much sleep that they got as children; if not more.
9 - 10 hours of sleep is the ideal amount for adolescents.

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This shift then causes the secretion of melatonin (the hormone that regulates the body's sleep-wake cycle) to start later at night and end later in the morning.

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During adolescence, the brain's biological clock shifts forward.

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What's the deal with adolescents and sleep? And why do they need so much of it?