Paper Title
The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Reaction Speed and Athletic Performance in Young Adolescents
Abstract
In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the amount of sleep young people are getting, with
evidence suggesting that a large number of them are not getting the recommended hours of sleep. This paper aims to analyze
the effects of sleep deprivation on reaction speed and athletic performance in young adolescents. Asystematic literature was
conducted which showed that sleep has an impact on our physical performance and reaction speed. However, the majority of
the published studies focuson athletes and the studies are often based on relatively small sample sizes, which shows a lack of
focus on sleep as a general factor and its impact on teenagers physical and cognitive performance. An empirical study among
59 teenagers (age 14-16) was set up investigating the importance of sleep for teenagers’ physical performance and reaction
speed through two experiments: 1 an anaerobic test and 2. A cognitive test. Based on collected measurement data and
qualitative data a statistical analysis was conducted. The analysis showed a clear positive correlation between the young
teenagers' amount of sleep and their reaction speed and ability to complete an anaerobic test. The findings are backed up by
available articles in the field focused on athletes.
Keywords - Sleep, Young people, teenagers, Athletic performance, Reaction speed, Empirical study, Questionnaire,
Biological test, Anaerobic exercise test, Literature Study