The contributions of sleep to perceived health status during adolescence

The purposes of this correlational study were to examine the relationships of three dimensions of sleep quality (sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation) and sleep quantity (the amount of sleep obtained per day) to perceived health status in early, middle, and late adolescents. The samples consisted of 106 early adolescents (aged 12 to 14), 111 middle adolescents (aged 15 to 17), and 113 late adolescents (aged 18 to 21). In classroom settings, all subjects completed the VSH Sleep Scale, which measures sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation (the amount of sleep per day was calculated from two items on the scale); the General Health Rating Index, which measures perceived health status; and a demographic data sheet. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients between the sleep variables and perceived health status were not statistically significant for early and late adolescents. For middle adolescents, however, the correlations between sleep disturbance and perceived health status, between sleep effectiveness and perceived health status, and between amount of sleep per day and perceived health status were statistically significant, but the correlation between sleep supplementation and perceived health status was not. A post hoc regression analysis indicated that the sleep variables explained a small, but statistically significant, amount of variance in perceived health status for middle adolescents. Findings are discussed in light of theories guiding the study, and implications for nursing practice are addressed.