Trajectories of insomnia symptoms and insufficient sleep duration in early adolescents: associations with school stress.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

We examined how adolescents' sleep patterns (i.e. insomnia symptoms and sleep duration) change from early- to mid-adolescence and whether adolescents follow different trajectories. Furthermore, we also examined the characteristics of adolescents within different trajectories, with a specific focus on the role of school-related stress.

METHODS

We used three longitudinal waves of questionnaire data collected annually from a sample of Swedish adolescents ( = 1294; = 13.2 [range: 12-15 years], = .42; 46.8% girls). Using established measures, the students reported on their sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, and perceived school-stress (including stress of school performance, peer and teacher relations, attendance, and school-leisure conflict). We used latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to identify adolescents' sleep trajectories, and the BCH method to describe the characteristics of the adolescents in each trajectory.

RESULTS

We found four trajectories for adolescents' insomnia symptoms; (1) low insomnia (69%), (2) low-increasing (17%, 'emerging risk-group'), (3) high-decreasing (9%), (4) high-increasing (5%; 'risk-group'). For sleep duration, we found two trajectories; (1) ~8 h sufficient-decreasing (85%), (2) ~7 h insufficient- decreasing (15%; 'risk-group'). Adolescents in risk-trajectories were more likely to be girls and consistently reported higher levels of school stress, particularly regarding school performance and attending school.

CONCLUSIONS

School stress was prominent among adolescents suffering from persistent sleep problems, especially insomnia, and deserves further attention.