Demographic and Parenting Correlates of Adolescent Sleep Functioning

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Parenting practices are crucial for adolescent well-being but their link to sleep is under-researched.
• Adolescent sleep problems are prevalent and impact overall adjustment.
• Understanding factors influencing adolescent sleep is vital for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify patterns of sleep functioning in diverse, low-income adolescents.
• To examine the association between parenting practices and adolescent sleep.
• To explore demographic influences on adolescent sleep.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 91 ethnically diverse adolescents (11-19 years) self-reported sleep functioning and parenting.
• Sleep functioning assessed included sleep onset difficulties, sleep maintenance difficulties, and sleep duration.
• Parenting practices evaluated were parental involvement, parent-child conflict, and parental control.

Main Results:

• High rates of sleep difficulties were reported: 60.5% had trouble initiating sleep, 73.6% maintaining sleep.
• Latino adolescents exhibited better sleep patterns (longer duration, fewer maintenance issues) than non-Latino peers.
• Parental control correlated with fewer sleep onset difficulties; parent-child conflict correlated with more sleep maintenance difficulties.

Conclusions:

• Parenting practices, specifically parental control and parent-child conflict, are significant correlates of adolescent sleep functioning.
• Demographic factors like ethnicity and age also influence adolescent sleep patterns.
• Interventions to improve adolescent sleep should incorporate parenting strategies and consider demographic variations.