Cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between psychosocial well‐being and sleep in European children and adolescents

Abstract

Research on associations of positive mental health, in contrast to mental ill‐health, with sleep duration and sleep disturbances in young populations is scarce. In particular, longitudinal studies focussing on the influence of positive mental health on sleep characteristics are lacking. Therefore, we investigated cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations of psychosocial well‐being with sleep duration and sleep disturbances. For the cross‐sectional analysis, we used data of 3‐15‐year‐old children and adolescents participating in the 2013/14 examination of the European IDEFICS/I.Family cohort study (N = 6,336). The longitudinal analysis was restricted to children who also participated in the 2009/10 examination (N = 3,379). Associations between a psychosocial well‐being score created from 16 items of the KINDLR Health‐Related Quality of Life Questionnaire covering emotional well‐being, self‐esteem and social relationships, an age‐standardized nocturnal sleep duration z‐score and two sleep disturbance indicators (“trouble getting up in the morning”, “difficulties falling asleep”) were estimated using linear and logistic mixed‐effects models. Cross‐sectionally, a higher well‐being score was associated with longer sleep duration and lower odds of sleep disturbances. A positive change in the well‐being score over the 4‐year period was associated with longer sleep duration and lower odds of sleep disturbances at follow‐up. However, there was only weak evidence that higher psychosocial well‐being at baseline was associated with better sleep 4 years later. Thus, our results suggest that increases in well‐being are associated with improvements in both sleep duration and sleep disturbances, but that well‐being measured at one point in time does not predict sleep characteristics several years later.

Associations between sleep duration and insulin resistance in European children and adolescents considering the mediating role of abdominal obesity

“…Socio-demographic variables (baseline age, sex, country, highest educational level of parents), pubertal status at follow-up and follow-up time were included as covariates in all regressions of the path model. Furthermore, psychosocial well-being was included as a covariate because of its association with sleep duration [40] and the potential role of psychosocial stressors in the development of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance [41,42]. Lastly, models were also adjusted for napping time because napping has been found to be associated with shorter nocturnal sleep duration [43].…”

Circulating miRNAs are associated with sleep duration in children/adolescents: Results of the I.Family Study

“…However, a fair agreement has been found in earlier studies between self‐reported and objectively measured sleep duration (actigraphic observations) (Lauderdale, Knutson, Yan, Liu, & Rathouz, ). Accordingly, although self‐reported data are not as precise as actigraphy, they are often used in children, due to their ease of use and minimal time and costs involved in data collection (Matricciani, ; Thumann et al, ).…”

“…Furthermore, on a subsample of subjects, sleep quality was investigated by asking whether the child/adolescent ‘snored’ (less than once a week/more than once a week; n = 76), had ‘trouble getting up in the morning’ (yes/no; n = 91), had ‘difficulties falling asleep’ (yes/no; n = 91), and what in general was their perceived sleep quality (very good, fairly good, fairly bad, very bad; n = 91) (Magee, Robinson, & Keane, ; Thumann et al, ).…”

Sleep duration and blood pressure in children: Analysis of the pan‐European IDEFICS cohort

“…Even if the major risk factors for hypertension, including obesity, ethnicity, family history of hypertension, dietary, and lifestyle habits are well established, sleep is an unusual and often overlooked factor. Sleep plays an essential role in the daily life of adults and in the growth of children and adolescents; an adequate amount of sleep is fundamental for human functioning and well‐being throughout the lifetime …”