Sleep and Inflammation During Adolescents' Transition to Young Adulthood

This study investigated the extent to which multiple sleep dimensions are associated with inflammation during adolescents' transition to young adulthood, a developmental period when sleep difficulties and systemic inflammation levels are on the rise. Additionally, the moderating roles of socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity were explored.

A total of 350 Asian American, Latino, and European American youth participated at two-year intervals in wave 1 (n = 316, M_age = 16.40), wave 2 (n = 248 including 34 new participants to refresh the sample, M_age = 18.31), and wave 3 (n = 180, M_age = 20.29). Sleep duration (weekday and weekend) and variability in duration (nightly and weekday/weekend) were obtained from eight nights of wrist actigraphy. Subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of systemic inflammation, were assayed from dried blood spots obtained from finger pricks.

Multilevel models demonstrated that greater weekday/weekend sleep variability and worse sleep quality were associated with higher CRP; shorter weekend duration was associated with higher CRP only at younger ages. Shorter weekday duration was associated with higher CRP only among high-SES youth, whereas greater nightly variability was associated with higher CRP only among European American youth.

Aspects of poor sleep may contribute to the rise of CRP during adolescents' transition to young adulthood, especially in earlier years. In addition, some sleep-CRP associations may vary as a function of youth's SES and ethnicity.