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The Role of Sleep in the Relationship Between Victimization and Externalizing Problems in Adolescents

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Abstract

Victimization is linked to externalizing outcomes in adolescents and recent theorizing suggests that sleep plays a role in this relationship; however, there is little evidence examining sleep as a mediator. This study examines associations between victimization experiences and changes in aggression, delinquency, and drug use. Data were obtained from three waves of a school-based study with middle-school youth (n = 785; 55 % female; 20 % African American; M = 12.32, SD = .51 years at T1), and path analyses were used to test the key hypotheses. Analyses controlling for major life events, demographic factors, and school site revealed that victimization indirectly affected delinquency and drug use, but not aggression, through its relationship with sleep problems. Further, the effects of sleep problems on drug use were specific to females. These data suggest that intervening to address sleep problems resulting from victimization may serve to reduce some forms of externalizing behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01MH081166-01A1 awarded to Wendy Kliewer and Stephen J. Lepore. We thank the research staff, schools, teachers, and students who participated in this study.

Authors’ Contributions

D.S. and W.K. jointly conceived and designed the study, D.S. ran the analyses, interpreted the data, and composed the original draft of the manuscript. W.K. and S.L. selected study measures, supervised data collection, and provided feedback and assistance with drafts of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, PO Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284-2018, USA

    David W. Sosnowski & Wendy Kliewer

  2. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Stephen J. Lepore

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  1. David W. Sosnowski
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  2. Wendy Kliewer
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Correspondence to David W. Sosnowski.

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The authors report no conflict of interests.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Temple University (TU). All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of Virginia Commonwealth University and Temple University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments of comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Written informed consent was provided by the maternal caregiver and assent was provided by the adolescent before initiating the data collection.

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Sosnowski, D.W., Kliewer, W. & Lepore, S.J. The Role of Sleep in the Relationship Between Victimization and Externalizing Problems in Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 45, 1744–1754 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0506-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0506-2

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