Estimating adolescent sleep patterns: parent reports versus adolescent self-report surveys, sleep diaries, and actigraphy

Abstract

BackgroundIn research and clinical contexts, parent reports are often used to gain information about the sleep patterns of their adolescents; however, the degree of concordance between parent reports and adolescent-derived measures is unclear. The present study compares parent estimates of adolescent sleep patterns with adolescent self-reports from surveys and sleep diaries, together with actigraphy.MethodsA total of 308 adolescents (59% male) aged 13–17 years completed a school sleep habits survey during class time at school, followed by a 7-day sleep diary and wrist actigraphy. Parents completed the Sleep, Medical, Education and Family History Survey.ResultsParents reported an idealized version of their adolescent’s sleep, estimating significantly earlier bedtimes on both school nights and weekends, significantly later wake times on weekends, and significantly more sleep than either the adolescent self-reported survey, sleep diary, or actigraphic estimates.ConclusionParent reports indicate that the adolescent averages a near-optimal amount of sleep on school nights and a more than optimal amount of sleep on weekends. However, adolescent-derived averages indicate patterns of greater sleep restriction. These results illustrate the importance of using adolescent-derived estimates of sleep patterns in this age group and the importance of sleep education for both adolescents and their parents.

Subjective – Objective Sleep Comparisons and Discrepancies Among Clinically-Anxious and Healthy Children

“…Although previous research points toward higher endorsement of sleep problems by parents relative to their anxious children, some methodological differences are noteworthy. In the current study we attempted to ensure that both parent and child reports of sleep problems tapped the same behavioral domains, using the same rating format, and number of items whereas prior studies have tended to rely on non-parallel measures of sleep problems (Chase and Pincus 2011;Short et al 2013).…”

“…Comparisons between child reports and actigraphy reveal a similarly discrepant pattern and child-reported sleep problems such as prolonged sleep onset are often not corroborated by parents (Arora et al 2013;Short et al 2012). For example, Short et al (2013) found parents reported greater total sleep duration on both weekdays and weekends compared to adolescent reports and actigraphy.…”

“…Despite advantages of low cost and ease of administration, reports of the same phenomena by different informants are often discrepant both from each other as well as objective measures (De Los Reyes and Aldao 2015;De Los Reyes et al 2012De Los Reyes and Kazdin 2005;De Los Reyes et al 2013b). In community-based samples, parents typically estimate greater total sleep duration and fewer sleep problems relative to both children's self-reports and actigraphy (Gregory et al 2006;Robinson and Richdale 2004;Short et al 2013). In one study including 3-to-10 year old children, parents overestimated their child's total sleep time by an average of 113 min compared to concurrent actigraphy (Dayyat et al 2011).…”

Treatment for Insomnia in Depressed Adolescents

“…In addition, they were three-times more likely to engage in self-harming behaviors(OR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.1-7.9, p=0.03).Adolescents treated with other sleep medications (such as antihistamines and non-benzodiazepines) did not fare much better and still had greater likelihood of self-harming behavior [90].…”

Sleep duration among school-age children in Hungary and Romania

“…Az adatokat önbevallásos kérdőívből nyertük, adatainkból a szubjektív alvásidő megítélésére van lehetőség. Ez a módszer a gyermekek alvásmintázatáról a szülői kérdő-íveknél pontosabb, az objektív műszeres eljárásoknál azonban kevésbé megbízható képet ad [31]. A két ország adatainak összehasonlítását korlátozza a rendelkezésre álló két minta eltérő nagysága, az eltérő átlagéletkor, illetve iskolatípusok.…”