Parental Incarceration History and Adolescent Sleep

We examine whether parental incarceration is associated with multiple domains of poor sleep in adolescence, a developmental period when circadian rhythms shift and sleep deprivation is widespread.

We used multivariable regression to examine whether a history of father-only incarceration, mother-only incarceration, or both-parent incarceration was associated with sleep duration (hours of sleep per night), timing (bedtime and waketime), disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep), and regularity (social jetlag, the absolute difference in sleep midpoint between school nights and weekends). Our sample included 15-year-olds in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a survey of children born in midsize or larger U.S. cities.

Father-only incarceration and both-parent incarceration were each associated with 1-2 additional days of disturbed sleep per month. Both-parent incarceration was also associated with more irregular sleep, amounting to 17 minutes more social jetlag. Short sleep duration was pervasive regardless of parental incarceration history.

As children of incarcerated parents age into adolescence, they no longer get less sleep but continue to get worse sleep than peers with never-incarcerated parents. Practitioners and policymakers addressing health among adolescents of incarcerated parents should consider the importance of poor sleep, particularly sleep irregularity and sleep disturbance.