Moving into poverty during childhood is associated with later sleep problems

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Sleep Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Previous research indicates a social gradient in sleep, but often relies on cross-sectional data and self-reported socioeconomic status (SES).
• Registry-based data offers a more objective measure of socioeconomic factors and their longitudinal impact on health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between childhood family income trajectories and adolescent sleep patterns.
• To examine the impact of relative poverty and socioeconomic mobility on sleep using objective income data.

Main Methods:

• Utilized registry data on family income from 2004-2010 to define poverty (<60% of national mean income).
• Employed Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to identify distinct family income trajectories.
• Analyzed self-reported sleep data from the youth@hordaland-survey (n=8873) of adolescents aged 16-19 years, using ANOVA and general linear models.

Main Results:

• Identified four income trajectory classes: 'never poor', 'moving into poverty', 'moving out of poverty', and 'chronically poor'.
• Adolescents experiencing 'moving into poverty' showed significantly worse sleep outcomes (shorter sleep, lower efficiency, increased wake time) compared to the 'never poor' group.
• No significant sleep differences were found for adolescents who moved out of poverty or those who were chronically poor compared to the 'never poor' group.

Conclusions:

• Downward socioeconomic mobility during childhood is associated with increased sleep problems in adolescence.
• Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and develop targeted interventions for adolescents facing financial instability.
• Findings underscore the importance of stable socioeconomic circumstances for adolescent sleep health.