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

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 U.S. 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 7 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.

Intraindividual variability of sleep/wake patterns in relation to child and adolescent functioning: A systematic review

“…Studies have not found an association between parent education level and children’s onset IIV [37,40] or duration IIV when controlling for other important demographic/environmental variables such as age and parent income [37,40]. Among studies that used a composite measure of SES, one did not report an association with duration IIV when the composite included family income and parent education measured five years prior to the sleep assessment [48]. In contrast, two other studies using more indicators to assess SES found lower SES to be associated with greater onset IIV and greater duration IIV [34,49].…”

Advancing a Biopsychosocial and Contextual Model of Sleep in Adolescence: A Review and Introduction to the Special Issue

“…This hypothesis was largely supported and results were remarkably consistent across the two samples, pointing to the importance of positive parenting behaviors for promoting sleep behaviors and in turn reducing risk for engaging in problematic behaviors. Using a phone diary interview methodology, Kuo et al (2015) examined the family context (in addition to school, work, and peer contexts) in a sample of 246 Mexican-American adolescents. The authors found that more time spent working, at school, or with peers was associated with obtaining less sleep.…”

Discrimination and Sleep Difficulties during Adolescence: The Mediating Roles of Loneliness and Perceived Stress

“…Increasing research shows that insufficient sleep and irregular sleep patterns have a negative impact on psychological (Barnes & Meldrum, 2015) and physical health (Kuo et al, 2015) as well as academic outcomes (Asarnow, McGlinchey & Harvey, 2014). Biobehavioral perspectives on sleep posit that environmental threat and psychosocial stressors heighten vigilance and alertness, which are antithetical to restful sleep (Dahl & Lewin, 2002).…”