Difficulties in Getting to Sleep and their Association with Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Adolescents: Does the Sleeping Duration Influence this Association?

Michaela Kosticova, Daniela Husarova and Zuzana Dankulincova
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Michaela Kosticova: Institute of Social Medicine and Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Sasinkova 2, 81372 Bratislava, Slovakia
Daniela Husarova: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 04011 Kosice, Slovakia
Zuzana Dankulincova: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 04011 Kosice, Slovakia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: Sleep problems are common in adolescence with a negative impact on the mental health and functioning of adolescents. However, the roles of different sleep problems in relation to emotional and behavioural problems (EBPs), classified according to the 10th version of the International Classification of Diseases as emotional, conduct, hyperactivity and social functioning disorders, are not clear. The first aim of the study was to investigate the association between difficulties in getting to sleep and EBPs in adolescents. The second aim was to explore the role of sleep duration in this association. We used data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in 2018 in Slovakia. Presented are results for specific age groups of 13-year-old (N = 1909) and 15-year-old (N = 1293) adolescents. Subjective measures of sleep variables were used. Binary logistic regression models adjusted for age and gender were used to assess associations between difficulties in getting to sleep, sleep duration and EBPs measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Modification of the association between difficulties in getting to sleep and EBPs by sleep duration was also explored. We found that difficulties in getting to sleep at least once a week as well as insufficient sleep (less than 8 h) increased the probability of EBPs. Interactions of sleep duration with difficulties in getting to sleep on EBPs were found to be non-significant. The results suggest that caregivers and clinicians should screen and intervene for both sleep quality and quantity problems in adolescents as they might indicate and promote EBPs.

Keywords: insufficient sleep duration; difficulties in getting to sleep; adolescents; emotional and behavioural problems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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