Sleep and Substance Use among US Adolescents, 1991-2014

Abstract

Objectives To examine associations between sleep and alcohol, amphetamine, cigarette, marijuana, and non-heroin narcotic use among US middle and high school students, trends in associations over time, and the comparative impact of select covariates on association strength. Methods Data from the 1991–2014 nationally representative Monitoring the Future study of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade US students were used to estimate standardized correlations between the frequency of getting at least 7 hours of sleep (7+ sleep) and substance use frequency while simultaneously regressing both outcomes on key covariate domains. Results As 7+ sleep frequency increased, substance use frequency significantly decreased and vice versa. Overall, association strength was inversely associated with grade. Associations were generally modest, varied across substances, and weakened over the historical period examined for 8th and 10th graders. Associations showed little variance by sex and racial/ethnic subgroups. Controlling for deviance, psychosocial, and general health covariates significantly attenuated association strength. Conclusions Among US secondary students, 7+ sleep/substance use associations were largely explained by individual deviance, psychosocial, and general health characteristics. Awareness and exploitation of these shared associations may be useful in improving substance use prevention and/or treatment efforts.

Relationships between school start time, sleep duration, and adolescent behaviors

“…A likely pathway for this connection is that lack of sleep is known to diminish teens' executive cognitive functioning and emotional regulation. 3 In the area of substance use, a recent analysis from the cross-sectional Monitoring the Future study demonstrated that the frequency of obtaining 7 or more hours of sleep per night was associated with a reduced risk of using cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and amphetamines, 4 which echoes other cross-sectional reports on sleep deficiencies and substance use. [5][6][7][8][9] With regard to mental well-being, shorter sleep duration among adolescents is associated with lower self-esteem, 10 a more negative attitude toward life, 11 greater difficulty with emotional regulation, 12 higher rates of mood disorders, 8,9,[13][14][15][16] and more thoughts of suicide.…”

“…12,38 Prior research on sleep and tobacco use in teens have discovered similar findings. 3,4 Sleep deprivation of less than 8 hours per night and sleeping longer than is considered normal at 9.25 hours for adolescents are similar in that both can be viewed as likely being symptomatic of other environmental and emotional issues that preclude or induce sleep.…”

Electronic cigarette use and sleep health in young adults

“…The effect of combustible cigarette use on sleep has been well established. Cigarette use has been associated with poor sleep health in national samples of adolescents (Terry‐McElrath, Maslowsky, O'Malley, Schulenberg, & Johnston, ) and adults (McNamara et al., ; Sabanayagam & Shankar, ), including college students (Boehm, Lei, Lloyd, & Prichard, ). A population‐based case–control study using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, ) found significant differences in global sleep score between smokers and non‐smokers, with current smokers exhibiting more sleep disturbance (Cohrs et al., ).…”

A history of binge drinking during adolescence is associated with poorer sleep quality in young adult Mexican Americans and American Indians

“…Recently, several longitudinal studies have linked sleep disturbance during adolescence with tobacco use (Bellatorre et al 2017; Warren et al 2017) and alcohol use (Miller et al 2017; Nguyen-Louie et al 2017; Sivertsen et al 2015). Additionally, eveningness (a preference for later sleep-wake timing) (Hasler et al 2017, 2015), and short sleep times (Terry-McElrath et al 2016) have also been identified as risk factors for alcohol and/or marijuana use in adolescents.…”