Objective Obesity and its comorbidities have emerged as a leading public health concern. Our aim was to explore the relationship between BMI and sleep patterns, including duration and disturbances. Methods A convenience sample of 515 college students completed an online survey consisting of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and self-reported height and weight to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using components of the PSQI as predictors of overweight (BMI ≥ 25). Results One-third of the participants had BMI ≥ 25, and 51% were poor-quality sleepers (PSQI > 5). Controlling for age and sex, only sleep disturbances were associated to overweight (OR=1.66, 95% CI: 1.08-2.57). Conclusions Sleep disturbances, rather than sleep duration predicted overweight among young adults; this is consistent with the most recent evidence in the literature. These findings support expanding the scope of wellness programs to promote healthy sleep among students.

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Sexual orientation disparities in suicide behavior are well-documented. Yet, few studies have examined how developmental assets-key values, self-perceptions, skills, relationships, and opportunities that have been identified as the building blocks of positive youth development-are associated with suicide behaviors, particularly among sexual minority youth. This study examined concurrent associations between young people's developmental assets and suicidal behavior by sexual orientation using a large sample of 116,925 in-school U.S. adolescents (ages 11 to 19, M = 14.74, SD = 1.78). Most of the sample identified as only heterosexual (90.2%); 5% identified as mostly heterosexual, 3.5% as bisexual, 0.6% as mostly lesbian/gay, and 0.7% as only lesbian/gay. Most participants identified as White, non-Latina/o (62.6%) and as cisgender female (50.3%) or cisgender male (47.8%). Compared to only heterosexual adolescents, youth with all other sexual orientations reported lower levels of internal and external developmental assets except for nonsports extracurricular activity participation and social justice values. Identifying as a racial/ethnic minority, particularly for only heterosexual adolescents, and specifically as Latina/o for sexual minority adolescents was associated with greater risk for suicidal behavior. Further, identifying as a gender minority exacerbated risk for suicidal behavior. Relatedly, when youth reported feeling unsafe with their family, or in their school or neighborhood, they were at greater risk for suicidal behavior, regardless of sexual orientation. Feeling hopeful was associated with lower risk for suicidal behavior for all youth. Regardless of sexual orientation, planning and decision-making skills were associated with lower risk and social-emotional skills were associated with heightened

Objective: Epidemiologic data increasingly supports sleep as a determinant of cardiovascular disease risk. Fewer studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying this relationship using objective sleep assessment approaches. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine associations between daily blood pressure and both objectively assessed sleep duration and efficiency.Methods: A diverse community sample of 300 men and women ages 21-70, enrolled in the North Texas Heart Study, participated in the study. Actigraphy assessed sleep was monitored over 2 consecutive nights with ambulatory blood pressure sampled randomly within 45-min blocks on the first and second day as well as the second night.Results: Overall, sleep duration results paralleled those of sleep efficiency. Individuals with lower sleep efficiency had higher daytime systolic (B=−0.35, SE=0.11, p=.0018, R 2 =0.26) but not diastolic BP (B=−0.043, SE=0.068, p=.52, R 2 =0.17) and higher nighttime BP (systolic: B=−0.37, SE=0.10, p<.001, R 2 =.15; diastolic: B=−0.20, SE=0.059, p<.001, R 2 =.14). Moreover, lower sleep efficiency on one night was associated with higher systolic (B=−0.51, SE=0.11, p<.001, R 2 =0.23) and diastolic BP (B=−0.17, SE=0.065, p=.012, R 2 =.16) the following day. When both sleep duration and efficiency were assessed together, sleep efficiency was associated with daytime systolic BP, while sleep duration was associated with nighttime BP.Conclusions: Lower sleep duration and efficiency are associated with higher daytime systolic BP and higher nighttime BP when assessed separately. When assessed together, sleep duration and