Developmental Changes in Longitudinal Associations Between Sleep Problems and School Burnout in Early Adolescence

Previous studies suggest that adolescents' sleep problems can affect school burnout. However, it remains unclear how these sleep problems evolve during early adolescence and how this development relates to school burnout. This study examines the developmental patterns of sleep problems and school burnout, exploring their interplay by disentangling between- and within-person changes.

This 2-year longitudinal study collected survey data from 1226 Chinese junior high school students across four waves, beginning in November 2018. The participants had a mean age of 12.73 years (SD = 0.68), with 50.2% male.

Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) identified three sleep problem trajectories: stable low (54%), slow-increasing (40%), and rapid-increasing (6%). Parallel latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) revealed synchronized growth between sleep problems and school burnout. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) demonstrated that, at the between-person level, sleep problems are significantly positively correlated with school burnout. At the within-person level, sleep problems and school burnout reciprocally reinforced each other over time.

These findings highlight the detrimental effects of sleep problems on school burnout in the Chinese cultural context. Differentiating within-person states from between-person traits is essential in research on the co-development of sleep problems and school burnout.