U.S. study: Weekend catch-up sleep may lower depression symptoms in teens and young adults

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published January 13, 2026

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A new U.S. study suggests that catching up on sleep over the weekend may be linked to better mental health indicators among teens and young adults, with lower odds of reporting daily depressive symptoms compared with peers who do not recover sleep on weekends.

Researchers from the University of Oregon and SUNY Upstate Medical University analyzed U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2021 to 2023 covering ages 16 to 24, and reported that weekend catch-up sleep was associated with roughly 41% lower odds of daily depressive symptoms.

Melynda Casement, director of the University of Oregon Sleep Lab, noted that specialists typically recommend eight to 10 hours of sleep at a regular time, but that is often unrealistic for many adolescents, adding that teens naturally shift toward later sleep timing and that weekend catch-up sleep may be somewhat protective when weekday sleep is insufficient.

The authors stressed that consistent healthy sleep remains the ideal, and called for further research to compare the benefits of weekend catch-up sleep with maintaining optimized, regular sleep duration and timing across the week.