Jul 30, 2014 09:38 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Teens who suffer from insomnia may be more likely to depression and anxiety, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia found that the presence of insomnia was independently linked with depression, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder among teens.

People with insomnia find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep for as long as they need to. This is a widespread sleep disorder among the general public.  In most countries about 11 percent of teens aged 13 to 16 years experience insomnia at some stage, according researcher Pasquale Alvaro.

"There is a growing awareness among the scientific community that insomnia, depression and anxiety disorders are linked with each other, and these disorders contain overlapping neurobiological, psychological, and social risk factors," Alvaro said in a statement. "Having insomnia in addition to anxiety or depression can further intensify the problems being experienced with each individual disorder. It can lead to such problems as alcohol and drug misuse during adolescence."

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 300 Australian high school students aged 12 to 18 years to better understand their sleep habits, mental health condition and the time of day they were most active (known as their "chronotype").

Researchers concluded that teens who were more active in the evenings were more likely to have depression and/or insomnia. This group was also more likely to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety, and social phobia, although these disorders were often not independently linked with insomnia.

"These findings suggest that the 'eveningness' chronotype - being more active in the evenings - is an independent risk factor for insomnia and depression. This is important because adolescents tend to develop a preference for evenings, which sometimes becomes a syndrome whereby they keep delaying going to sleep," Alvaro said.

Alvaro said that based on the findings, prevention and treatment efforts for insomnia and depression should consider "this combination of mental health, sleep, and the eveningness chronotype," in addition to current mainstream behavioral approaches.

The findings were recently published in the journal Sleep Medicine. 

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