Parent Seminar Series 2024: Promoting Adolescent Sleep

The talk will firstly introduce human sleep, highlighting that normal sleep is more complex than we might think. Secondly, we will review evidence linking disturbed sleep to next day problems.  Third, we introduce the particular reasons for the ‘epidemic of sleep deprivation in adolescents’.   The primary causes of this problem are well-understood scientifically, but not well appreciated by the general population. Finally, we turn to solutions at the social level (e.g., delaying school start times) and particularly the individual level. The talk will include opportunities for interaction and questions, and is sure to be engaging. 

Professor Greg Murray is currently Director of Mood Disorder Research and Practice at Swinburne University of Technology, and a practising Clinical Psychologist. His primary research interest is the link between sleep, biological rhythms and mental health. He has published more than 200 scientific papers on these topics, and received more than $33 million in funding to support his research work. Greg has received individual awards for research, teaching and community engagement, and has a long-standing interest in adolescent sleep. His article on sleep in The Conversation has been read more than 1.2 million times, he has had regular mental health sessions on ABC Radio National and has provided dozens of talks on adolescent sleep to secondary school students, teachers and parents.