Paying Teenagers to Sleep Boosts Grades, Study Finds

Offering adolescents a financial incentive for achieving at least seven hours of sleep per night can significantly improve both their sleep duration and academic outcomes, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. The experiment involved over 1,100 students, with an average age of 19.

Participants in one group were given a monetary reward, equivalent to approximately $4.50 USD, each time they slept for a minimum of seven hours on a weeknight. Over a month-long trial, this group averaged an additional 19 minutes of sleep per night compared to a control group. This increase in sleep was primarily achieved by going to bed earlier, rather than sleeping later into the morning.

Beyond the increase in sleep, the study, published in the Journal of Political Economy, also documented a measurable improvement in academic performance. On the standard four-point GPA scale, students who received the sleep incentive saw an average increase of 0.08 points. Some of these positive effects, including longer sleep durations, persisted for several weeks even after the payments ceased.

Prior to the experiment, the average participant slept only 6.6 hours per night, with half of the students regularly staying awake past 1 a.m. The group receiving financial incentives met the seven-hour sleep goal on 26% more nights than those who did not receive any payment. The study also noted that supplementary interventions like bedtime reminders and morning feedback had minimal impact on sleep habits or academic performance.