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Mexican American Adolescents’ Sleep Patterns: Contextual Correlates and Implications for Health and Adjustment in Young Adulthood

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Abstract

Late adolescence is a period of substantial risk for unhealthy sleep patterns. This study investigated the contextual correlates and health and adjustment implications of sleep patterns among Mexican American youth (N = 246; 51 % female). We focused on Mexican American youth because they represent a large and rapidly increasing subgroup of the US population that is at higher risk for health and adjustment problems; this higher risk may be explained, in part, by sleep patterns. Using data from seven phone diary interviews conducted when youth averaged 18 years of age, we assessed average nighttime sleep duration and night-to-night variability in sleep duration. Guided by socio-ecological models, we first examined how experiences in the family context (time spent and quality of relationships with parents, parents’ familism values) and in extra-familial contexts (school, work, peers) were related to sleep duration and variability. The findings revealed that time spent in school, work, and with peers linked to less sleep. Further, conflict with mothers was related to greater sleep variability. Next, we tested the implications of sleep in late adolescence for health (perceived physical health, body mass index) and adjustment (depressive symptoms, risky behaviors) in young adulthood. These findings indicated that more sleep variability predicted relative decreases in health and increases in risky behaviors, and shorter sleep duration predicted relative decreases in poorer perceived health for males. The discussion highlights the significance of the transition to young adulthood as a target for sleep research and the importance of studying sleep within its socio-cultural context.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the families and youth who participated in this project, and to the following schools and districts who collaborated: Osborn, Mesa, and Gilbert school districts, Willis Junior High School, Supai and Ingleside Middle Schools, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Gregory, St. Francis Xavier, St. Mary-Basha, and St. John Bosco. We thank Ann Crouter, Mark Roosa, Nancy Gonzales, Roger Millsap, Jennifer Kennedy, Leticia Gelhard, Melissa Delgado, Emily Cansler, Lorey Wheeler, Shawna Thayer, Devon Hageman, Norma Perez-Brena, Ji-Yeon Kim, Lilly Shanahan, Chun Bun Lam, Megan Baril, Anna Solmeyer, and Shawn Whiteman for their assistance in conducting this investigation. Funding was provided by NICHD grants R01HD39666 (Kimberly A. Updegraff, PI) and R01-HD32336 (Ann C. Crouter and Susan M. McHale, Co-PIs) and by the Cowden Fund to the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at ASU.

Author contributions

SK participated in the study’s conception, performed the analyses, interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. KU participated in the study’s conception, design and coordination, assisted with the interpretation of the data, and helped draft the manuscript. KZ participated in the study’s conception, interpretation of the data, and helped draft the manuscript. SM participated in the study’s design and coordination and provided feedback on the manuscript. AU participated in the study’s design and coordination and provided feedback on the manuscript. SR participated in the study’s coordination, helped with the interpretation of data, and provided feedback. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Sally I-Chun Kuo, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Katharine H. Zeiders, Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor & Sue A. Rodríguez De Jesús

  2. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Susan M. McHale

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  1. Sally I-Chun Kuo
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  2. Kimberly A. Updegraff
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Correspondence to Sally I-Chun Kuo.

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Kuo, S.IC., Updegraff, K.A., Zeiders, K.H. et al. Mexican American Adolescents’ Sleep Patterns: Contextual Correlates and Implications for Health and Adjustment in Young Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 44, 346–361 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0156-1

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