Stress and Sleep in Adolescence: The Interactive Effects of Skin Conductance Level Reactivity and Parental...

Adolescents are vulnerable to poor sleep, and both individual and environmental factors predict youth sleep problems. The present study examined the independent and interactive associations of adolescent sympathetic nervous system reactivity and experiences of parenting with multiple aspects of their sleep. Participants were 579 late adolescents (M_age = 17.14 years, 47.3% males, 52.7% females; 62.7% White, 37.3% Black). Sympathetic reactivity was measured via skin conductance level reactivity in response to a lab-based stressor, and participants reported on experiences of parental psychological control. Adolescent sleep was assessed both objectively through actigraphy and subjectively from self-report. Structural equation models demonstrated a consistent pattern of interaction effects, such that higher adolescent skin conductance level reactivity predicted better actigraphy-derived sleep 1 year later at low levels of paternal psychological control, but worse actigraphy-derived sleep at high levels of paternal psychological control. There were no independent or interactive effects for mothers' parenting. Findings are consistent with biological sensitivity to context theory and indicate that high skin conductance level reactivity may reflect appropriate engagement with the environment in low-stress contexts but lead to wear and tear of bioregulatory systems in contexts of high stress, eroding sleep.