Caught between late‑night hyper‑connectivity, demanding academic schedules and a physiology still in flux, sleep among 18-25‑year‑olds is steadily eroding. Far more than a simple period of rest, sleep is a cornerstone of both physical and mental health. Against this backdrop, one imperative emerges: finding effective solutions to transform this perceived “waste of time” into a powerful lever for prevention.
Why sleep matters
For young people, sleep has become an adjustment variable, easily sacrificed on the altar of digital socialisation or academic pressure. The result? Nearly half of them get fewer than seven hours of sleep on weekdays, compared with the nine hours recommended*. “This deficit is far from trivial, as sleep is a vital function that affects concentration, emotional regulation, immunity and eating behaviours,” explains Céline Falco. “Poor sleep weakens both health and prevention efforts.” Yet sleep is still too often framed as a matter of individual discipline (going to bed earlier, limiting screen time, organising oneself better) when in fact it reflects a complex web of systemic constraints, combining environmental factors and social norms.
The vicious circle of hyper‑connectivity and FOMO
The main sleep disruptor is the smartphone. The issue, however, is not so much blue light as the umbilical cord it represents, keeping young people constantly connected to their peer group. “Social norms play a major role: if the whole group is online at midnight, logging off feels like self‑exclusion. This is the ‘FOMO’ (Fear Of Missing Out) phenomenon,” explains Sophie Ferreira Le Morvan, Executive Director of the APRIL Foundation. “Young people know that screens are harmful to sleep, but they lack a social, digital and institutional environment that makes rest both possible and legitimate.” Solutions do exist, as demonstrated by a German experiment presented in the APRIL Foundation’s third Expert Report. By introducing staggered school start times better aligned with chronobiological rhythms, researchers showed that structural change can generate lasting effects: longer sleep duration, improved motivation and better mood. The issue, then, is not always a lack of motivation, but rather the compatibility between institutional constraints and biological needs.
Sleep and mental health: an insufficiently integrated link
Beyond physical fatigue, psychological wellbeing is inseparable from good sleep. Poor sleep exacerbates anxiety and depression, which in turn further disrupt sleep. Yet initiatives aimed at improving attendance at mental health appointments, such as a project in England, highlight a frequently overlooked issue: sleep is rarely treated as a full‑fledged determinant of the care pathway. “Failing to address sleep conditions means intervening too late, once difficulties are already entrenched. Young people’s mental health is often addressed without questioning their daily rhythms, even though the two are inseparable,” notes Edward Flahavan, Director at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT).
Interestingly, young people themselves may hold part of the solution. While sleep is often sacrificed, it is paradoxically valorised in certain digital micro‑cultures, particularly through the “glow‑up” trend on social media. Getting eight hours of sleep is portrayed as a key step towards “becoming the best version of yourself”, alongside hydration or exercise. However, a behavioural barrier frequently emerges between this projected ideal and reality: present bias. This cognitive bias leads 18–25‑year‑olds to overvalue immediate gratification (one last video, a late‑night conversation) at the expense of the long‑term benefits of restorative sleep, perceived as too distant.
Re‑embracing the night
So how can sleep be restored to its rightful place? Behavioural sciences suggest that one effective approach lies in facilitation and choice architecture. Rather than moralising or lecturing, it is more effective to make sleep desirable (or at least easier to access). “By highlighting concrete, scientifically evaluated experiments, the APRIL Foundation shows that sometimes modest adjustments — schedules, messaging, choice architecture — can produce lasting effects,” observes Sophie Ferreira Le Morvan. The challenge is to shift the focus from “sleeping better” to “creating the conditions that make sleep possible.”
“To succeed, we need to change the narrative. Sleep should no longer be presented as a constraint, but as a ‘superpower’ for cognitive performance, appearance and emotional balance.”
*Source : Le sommeil des adolescents – INSV Institut National du Sommeil et de la Vigilance
(French National Institute for Sleep and Vigilance)