Social jetlag and alcohol use in adolescents: A random-intercept cross-lagged panel analysis

Alcohol use and social jetlag (i.e., the misalignment between weekday and weekend sleep timing) frequently co-occur during adolescence, yet their temporal dynamics across different timescales remain underexamined. This study assessed bidirectional relationships between alcohol consumption and social jetlag at the person, 4-month, and weekly levels.

U.S. high school students (N = 302, analytic n = 297; M_age = 16.21 years) completed three 21-day assessment bursts, each comprising three consecutive weekly surveys and timeline follow-back assessments. Bursts were separated by 4 months and spanned approximately 9 months. A three-level random-intercept cross-lagged panel model disaggregated variance into person-level (stable differences), burst-level (medium-term shifts), and week-level (short-term fluctuations) components.

At the person level, the random intercepts for social jetlag and alcohol use were positively correlated (β = .42). At the burst level, Burst 1 alcohol use positively predicted alcohol use in Burst 2 (β = .26), whereas alcohol use in Burst 2 negatively predicted alcohol use in Burst 3 (β = -.41). At the week level, a cross-lagged effect emerged in Burst 3: Greater alcohol use predicted greater social jetlag the following week (β = .40).

Results suggest that associations between adolescent alcohol use and social jetlag differed across temporal levels. A stable between-person association emerged, whereas within-person directional associations were inconsistent across timescales and bursts. One weekly association from alcohol use to social jetlag emerged in the third burst only and should be interpreted cautiously pending replication. These findings highlight the value of distinguishing stable co-occurrence from short-term within-person dynamics in adolescent sleep-alcohol research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).