Morningness/eveningness, pubertal timing, and substance use in adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between Morningness/Eveningness (M/E; a measure of sleep-wake preference) and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use as well as the interaction of M/E and pubertal timing. The data represent baseline measures from a longitudinal study examining the association of psychological functioning and smoking with reproductive and bone health in 262 adolescent girls (11-17 years). The primary measures used for this study were pubertal timing (measured by age at menarche), the Morningness/Eveningness scale, and substance use (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana). Multiple group path modeling showed that there was a significant interaction between pubertal timing and M/E on cigarette use. The direction of the parameter estimates indicated that for the early and on-time groups, Evening preference was associated with more cigarette use. For the late timing group the association was not significant. The results point to the need to consider sleep preference as a characteristic that may increase risk for substance use in adolescents.