Biological clock vs Social clock conflict in Adolescents

Alteration of day and night is one of the essential circadian rhythms that build the phenomenon of sleep/wake in humans and other animals. Daily rhythms impact different individuals differently. Light exposure and an individual's circadian response are two aspects that create diversity in phenotype. These diverse phenotypes are called chronotypes. Chronotype varies over the life history stages. Chronotype is seen as morning type in children, evening type in adolescents, and again reverts back to the morning type in adults and old-aged individuals. It is observed that adolescents being evening types have bedtime later in comparison to children and adults. Adolescent physiology/ body clock does not allow them to sleep early and school routine/social clock does not let them sleep till late. Thus, their night phase is shrunk and sleep hours are reduced, which hinders their day-time functioning, including mental tasks such as cognition, learning and memory-based exercises, and physical tasks such as physical presence during field and athletic events. These days sleep debt is a critical health concern in the adolescent population. The current review focuses on the adolescent sleep-needs and various factors affecting their healthy sleep. This also encompasses the understanding of biological clocks, their misalignment, disrupters, causes and impact. The present study would be helpful in finding out the difference between the biological clock and social clock of the adolescent population, elaborates the need for sleep education and suggests a solution to this alarming problem of sleep debt in teens.