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Prevalence and Determinants of Bad Sleep Perception among Italian Children and Adolescents

Serena Malloggi1, Francesca Conte2, Giorgio Gronchi1

  • 1Department NEUROFARBA, University of Firenze, 50135 Firenze, Italy.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|December 17, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Prevalence of bad sleepers increases with age, from 8.3% in children to 15.3% in adolescents. Poor sleep quality is linked to depression and sleep disturbances, with factors shifting from psychological to sleep characteristics as children age.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Adolescent Health

Background:

  • Sleep problems in young populations are understudied.
  • Prevalence and determinants of poor sleep quality perception in children, preadolescents, and adolescents require investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of bad sleepers across different age groups.
  • To identify the determinants of sleep quality perception in children, preadolescents, and adolescents.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the School Sleep Habits Survey on a sample of 307 children, 717 preadolescents, and 406 adolescents.
  • Categorized participants into 'good sleepers' and 'bad sleepers' based on subjective sleep quality.
  • Analyzed sleep quality perception, habits, features, daytime behavior, sleep disturbances, circadian preference, and dreaming.

Main Results:

  • 11.7% of the total sample reported being bad sleepers, with prevalence increasing by age (children: 8.3%; preadolescents: 11.3%; adolescents: 15.3%).
  • Bad sleepers across all ages exhibited higher eveningness, sleepiness, depression, longer sleep latency, insufficient sleep, nocturnal awakenings, sleep-wake problems, and unpleasant dreams compared to good sleepers.
  • Sleep quality perception determinants varied by age: children's perception was influenced by depressed mood, eveningness, and unpleasant dreams; preadolescents' by sleep latency, awakening frequency, depressed mood, sleep sufficiency, and unpleasant dreams; adolescents' by awakening frequency, depressed mood, and sleep sufficiency.

Conclusions:

  • In children, poor subjective sleep quality is primarily linked to daytime psychological factors like depressed mood.
  • In preadolescents and adolescents, sleep characteristics such as frequent awakenings become significant determinants alongside psychological factors.
  • These age-related shifts may reflect evolving objective sleep modifications and increased adolescent awareness of their sleep patterns.

Keywords:
adolescentschildrensubjective sleep quality

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