Sleep Disturbance and Risk Behaviors among Inner-City African-American Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescents tend to experience more problems with sleep loss as a natural consequence of puberty, whereas teens from impoverished urban areas are likely to witness neighborhood violence and/or engage in risk behaviors that may affect sleep. Data from the Mobile Youth Survey, a longitudinal study of impoverished inner-city African-American adolescents (1998-2005; N=20,716; age range=9.75-19.25 years), were used to compare paired years of annual surveys elicited by questions about how sleep was affected when bad things happen to friends or family. Using a cross-lagged panel multivariate approach comparing reports for two sequential years and controlling for age/gender plus exposure to traumatic stress and violence, prior sleep disturbance was associated with carrying a knife/gun, brandishing a knife/gun, using a knife/gun, quick temperedness, warmth toward mother, worry, and belief in the neighborhood street code in the latter year. Conversely, seeing someone cut, stabbed, or shot, using alcohol, worry, and internalized anger were associated with sleep disturbance in a latter year. Although a limited measure of sleep disturbance was used, these findings support further research to examine sleep disturbance and risk behaviors among low-income adolescents.

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

“…These findings provide compelling support for the role of social-cognitive processes in understanding how violence exposure can impact sleep functioning. In another longitudinal study, Umlauf et al (2015) extended previous work with the Mobile Youth Survey (Umlauf et al 2011) by showing violence exposure and hopelessness to have independent and multiplicative effects on adolescent sleep trajectories, with trauma-exposed females at particular risk for subsequent sleep problems related to traumatic stress. These studies provide excellent examples of integrating the community context into models of adolescent sleep.…”

“…Longitudinal data also speak to the link between sleep problems and adolescents carrying or using weapons. In a large sample of inner-city African American adolescents, Umlauf et al (2011) found traumagenic-related sleep problems (i.e., difficulty sleeping or experiencing nightmares due to bad things happening to a family member or friend) to be longitudinally associated with carrying, brandishing, and using a knife or gun, as well as endorsing aggressive and violent attitudes in response to disrespect or personal affront, even after controlling for exposure to violence and traumatic stress. In addition, seeing someone cut, stabbed, or shot, alcohol use, worry, and internalized anger were each longitudinally associated with sleep disturbance (Umlauf et al 2011).…”

“…Multiple mechanisms are likely implicated in the association between violence exposure (either in the home or in the community) and adolescent delinquency Becker 2010, 2015), but studies have yet to separate out sleep disturbances from other symptoms of PTSD when examining the link between trauma/PTSD and delinquency or other antisocial behaviors. Given the findings summarized above linking sleep to carrying/using a weapon (Hildenbrand et al 2013;Umlauf et al 2011), as well as other studies showing short sleep duration to be associated with violence towards others, truancy, and a criminal record for theft (Yen et al 2010), it would behoove researchers to consider the specific role of sleep problems as one possible mechanism linking trauma and violence exposure to delinquency and other externalizing behaviors. Indeed, there is preliminary cross-sectional evidence suggesting that sleep problems may account for the link between community violence and delinquency in at-risk Latino adolescents .…”

Anxiety Symptoms Account for the Link between Reactive Aggression and Sleep Problems Among Latino Adolescents

“…Additionally, for many students English was not their first language, and the current study was not able to evaluate if this had any influence on interpretation of questions and student responses. The present study focused on the effects of aggression on sleep problems; however, there is evidence suggesting that the association between aggression and sleep difficulties is bidirectional in nature (Dahl and Harvey 2007;Gregory and Sadeh 2012;Umlauf et al 2011). Additionally, symptoms of anxiety and reactive aggression are likely contributing to one another (Marsee et al 2008).…”

Later school start times in the U.S.: An economic analysis

“…For instance, the combined public health costs of the obesity epidemic in children and adolescents and its associated cardiovascular morbidities are estimated at $45 billion a year, and sleep loss is longitudinally associated with increased risk of obesity in children and adolescents (Magee et al, 2012). Further, insufficient sleep among teens is associated with an increased risk of engaging in property and violent crime (Umlauf et al, 2011). The direct and indirect costs of crime, including direct economic losses, increased insurance rates, loss of productivity, and various aspects of the criminal justice system, from police, to courts, to juvenile facilities and prisons, are estimated in the billions of dollars (NCJRS, 2000).…”