Sleep timing and quantity in ecological and family context: A nationally representative time-diary study.

Abstract

Associations between demographic characteristics, school schedules, activity choices, family functioning, and sleep behaviors were estimated using nationally representative time-diary data from 2,454 children (ages 5.5 to 11.9 years) and adolescents (ages 12.0 to 19.1 years). For weekdays, African American adolescents, Asian children, and those with earlier school start times and longer travel times to school reported fewer sleep hours. More time spent watching television (for children), doing homework (for adolescents), and engaging in religious activities predicted fewer hours, whereas a longer time spent on meals predicted greater hours of weekday sleep. For younger children, greater parental warmth predicted more hours of weekday sleep, whereas for adolescents, stricter household rules were protective. On weekends, African American adolescents and Hispanic children slept less, and there were strong effects of activity choices including time spent on television, computer and videogames, sports, religious activities, socializing, and employment. In accounting for age-related decreases in sleep hours from childhood to adolescence, earlier school start times, greater hours of homework, greater paid employment, less time spent on meals, and fewer household rules were all significant mediators.

Changes in Bedtime Schedules and Behavioral Difficulties in 7 Year Old Children

“…25,26 Our findings are consistent with reports from cross-sectional studies [8][9][10][11][12] and a couple of longitudinal 16,17 and experimental studies 27,28 which suggested that disruptions to sleep are linked to behavioral difficulties in children. In keeping with previous studies, 26,[29][30][31] other markers of the family milieu that we know are important predictors of early child development, 2 including mother' s mental health and daily routines (eg, skipping breakfast, reading to or with child, having a TV in the bedroom, and the amount of TV watched), were all strongly correlated with not having a regular bedtime. We found that statistical adjustment for these factors attenuated associations, so our results suggest that having a regular bedtime is important alongside other aspects of family routines.…”

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

“…Adolescents with parent-set bedtimes of 10:00 p.m. or earlier are 24 % less likely to experience depression and 20 % less likely to have suicidal ideation in comparison to adolescents with parent-set bedtimes of midnight or later (Gangwisch et al 2010). Likewise, in a representative time-diary study of over 2,400 youth in the US, stricter household rules were associated with adolescents obtaining more weekday sleep hours (and an early bedtime); this association was specific to adolescents and not found among children (Adam et al 2007). Conversely, although not associated with overall sleep duration, parenting styles characterized by restriction, reproach, and inconsistency are associated with adolescents experiencing poorer sleep quality and greater daytime sleepiness (Brand et al 2009).…”

“…For example, a series of studies conducted with adolescents in São Paulo, Brazil showed employment to be a significant predictor of shorter sleep duration, poorer sleep quality, greater daytime sleepiness, and a greater sleep rebound (i.e., extended sleep duration) on weekends (Fischer et al 2008;Teixeira et al 2004a, b;2007). In a study conducted by a different research team, weekend employment was linked to less total sleep time (due to earlier wake times), with each hour of paid work corresponding to a quarter-hour reduction in weekend sleep obtained (Adam et al 2007). College students who work 20 h or more each week also obtain less sleep than their peers working less than 20 h per week , demonstrating the association between employment and reduced sleep to extend into late adolescence.…”

“…These findings are perhaps not surprising given the increasing academic and homework demands that often accompany the transition to middle school, with 16-18-year olds spending anywhere from 10 to 65 h per week on homework (Kouzma and Kennedy 2002). Of note, among youth in the US, the association between time spent on homework and sleep duration appears to be limited to adolescents, with no such association present in childhood (Adam et al 2007). In contrast, recent research shows time spent on homework to be associated with shorter sleep duration among schoolaged children in China (Sun et al 2014).…”

Media Use and Sleep Among Boys With Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, or Typical Development

“…16 Indeed, in-room access to a TV, computer, or electronic games has been shown to be associated with less total sleep in previous studies. [17][18][19][20] Similarly, children who spend more time using these media sleep less, 17,[21][22][23] leading some researchers to speculate that bedroom access to screen-based media may have an indirect effect on sleep. 16 However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has specifically tested this indirect effect hypothesis, nor has any study examined how media use relates to sleep among individuals with ASD or ADHD.…”