Abstract
Chronotype, or morningness/eveningness, has been associated with adjustment in both children and adolescents. Specifically, eveningness has been linked to adjustment difficulties; however, the mechanism underlying this association is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to test whether the associations between eveningness and adjustment difficulties could be explained by an unfavorable impact of eveningness on sleep. Links from chronotype to internalizing problems and problem behaviors via sleep quantity and sleep problems were tested in a sample from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (N = 3485; 48.8% female), both when the participants were children (7 years at T1, 11 at T2) and when they were adolescents (15 years at T1, 18 at T2). The findings provided evidence that eveningness predicted greater sleep problems and lower sleep quantity; however, only sleep problems predicted internalizing problems and problem behaviors. Sleep quantity did not mediate the eveningness-adjustment link, and sleep problems did so only in children. The findings show that sleep problems appear to be more important in explaining the eveningness-adjustment link rather than altered sleep quantity, commonly associated with eveningness.
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Notes
To assess whether there were differences in key variables at T1 between participants who completed both T1 and T2 surveys and participants who only completed the T1 survey, a series of six t-tests was completed separately for the child and adolescent sample. Bonferroni correction to adjust the p values was used, where p values were set to .05/12 = .004. Results showed that participants who completed both T1 and T2 as children (M = 10.64, SD = 0.60) had lower weekday sleep quantity (t[3270] = -3.04, p = .002) than those who completed only T1 (M = 10.71, SD = 0.61). Similarly, participants who completed both T1 and T2 as children (M = 10.77, SD = 0.80) had lower weekend sleep quantity (t[3254] = -2.92, p = .004) than those who completed only T1 (M = 10.86, SD = 0.84). Additionally, participants who completed both T1 and T2 as adolescents (M = 0.25, SD = 0.30) had lower levels of problem behaviors (t[1695] = -3.40, p = .001) than those who completed only T1 (M = 0.31, SD = 0.33).
In addition to the mother-reported data, adolescent-reported data on midsleep point at age 15, internalizing problems at ages 15 and 18, and problem behaviors at ages 15 and 18 were available. Thus, an alternate half-longitudinal model was computed utilizing the available adolescent-reported data. Results showed minimal differences between the model with mother-reported measures only and the model utilizing the available adolescent-reported measures. The difference in the size of the estimates was mostly at the level of second or third decimal place, and there were no statistically significant differences, including the findings for indirect effects.
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Acknowledgements
The ELSPAC study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (LM2015051 and CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000469). This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Authors’ Contributions
GJ conceived of the study, participated in its design, performed the statistical analysis, contributed to interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript. AV participated in the conceptualization and design of the study, and contributed to the interpretation of findings and drafting the manuscript. JK provided access to the dataset, guidance in navigating the data, information about used scales and measures, and contributed to proofreading and finalizing the manuscript. LD provided guidance in navigating the dataset, information about used scales and measures, and contributed to proofreading and finalizing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data Sharing and Declaration
The restricted data that support the findings of this study are available from the Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX) and the Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses of the Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under contract and license for the current study, and thus are not publicly available.
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Ethical Approval
All study procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The authors obtained the data as a secondary data set to conduct the study and perform statistical analyses. Access to the collected ELSPAC data and their use in the current study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Kentucky (Protocol number 16-0820-X4B: The Associations between Sleep Patterns and Sleep Problems, and Multiple Health Risk in Adolescents).
Appendix
Appendix
Sleep problems
At age 7 and 11:
In the last year, your child:
-
1.
Refused to go to bed.
-
2.
Woke up very early.
-
3.
Had difficulties falling asleep.
-
4.
Had nightmares.
-
5.
Kept getting up after he/she was put in bed.
-
6.
Woke up during the night.
-
7.
Woke up after only a few hours of sleep.
0…it did not happen
1…it happened but I was not worried about it
2…it happened and I was worried a bit
3…it happened and I was worried a great deal
At age 15 and 18:
-
1.
Does your daughter/son have any sleep disorder? If so, please, specify:
-
2.
Does she/he have difficulties falling asleep?
-
3.
Does she/he have nightmares?
-
4.
Does she/he wake up during the night?
-
5.
Does she/he wake up very early?
-
6.
Does she/he have any other sleeping disorder?
0…no
1…yes
Internalizing problems
In the last 6 months, your child/adolescent:
-
1.
Had headaches, stomach ages, or felt sick in general.
-
2.
Was worried about many things.
-
3.
Looked sad or depressed.
-
4.
Was anxious in new situations and was losing confidence easily.
-
5.
Got anxious or afraid easily.
At age 11 reported on the following scale:
0…false
1…rarely true
2…often true
3…always true
9…do not know
At age 7, 15, and 18 reported on the following scale:
0…false
1…somewhat true
2…true
Problem behaviors
In the last 6 months, your child/adolescent:
-
1.
Was restless, hyperactive, and could not stay still.
-
2.
Was angry or irritable.
-
3.
Was aggressive towards other children or was fighting with them.
-
4.
Had troubles concentrating and staying focused.
-
5.
Lied or made up things that were not true.
-
6.
Stole something at home, school, or elsewhere.
At age 11 reported on the following scale:
0…false
1…rarely true
2…often true
3…always true
9…do not know
At age 7, 15, and 18 reported on the following scale:
0…false
1…somewhat true
2…true
Maternal internalizing problems
Please, tell us about your feelings you experienced last week:
-
1.
I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things.
-
2.
I have looked forward with enjoyment to things.
-
3.
I have blamed myself unnecessarily when things went wrong.
-
4.
I have been anxious or worried for no good reason.
-
5.
I have felt scared or panicky for no very good reason.
-
6.
Things have been getting on top of me.
-
7.
I have been so unhappy that I have had difficulty sleeping.
-
8.
I have felt sad or miserable.
-
9.
I have been so unhappy that I have been crying.
-
10.
The thought of harming myself has occurred to me.
0…never
1…not very often
2…often
3… most of the time
Maternal alcohol use
At age 7:
-
1.
How much alcohol do you usually consume?
1…do not drink alcohol
2…rarely (less than once a week)
3…sometimes (at least once a week)
4…1 to 2 glasses almost every day
5…3 to 4 glasses every day
6…at least 10 glasses every day
-
2.
On how many days during the last months have you consumed more than four units of alcohol on one occasion (4 beers/glasses of wine/shots)?
1…every day
2…more than 10 days
3…5 to 10 days
4…3 to 4 days
5…1 to 2 days
6…none
At age 15:
-
1.
Do you drink alcohol?
0…no
1…yes
-
2.
How many units (glasses) of the following alcoholic beverages have you had in the last week?
-
a.
Light beer
-
b.
Strong beer
-
c.
Cocktails
-
d.
Hard liquor (2 centiliters)
-
e.
Hard liquor (4 centiliters)
-
f.
Wine
-
a.
-
3.
Have you ever consumed more than six units of alcohol at one occasion (6 beers/glasses of wine/shots)?
1…Never
2…Less than once a month
3…Once a month
4…Once a week
5…Every day or almost every day
6…none
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Ksinan Jiskrova, G., Vazsonyi, A.T., Klánová, J. et al. Sleep Quantity and Problems as Mediators of the Eveningness-Adjustment Link during Childhood and Adolescence . J Youth Adolescence 48, 620–634 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0965-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0965-8