Passing on the Zzz's: Adolescent sleep attitudes are associated with sleep behaviors and parental prioritization of sleep.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine adolescent attitudes about the importance of sleep and how they relate to adolescent sleep behaviors and parent sleep attitudes. METHODS: Participants included families with adolescents aged 10-17years and a parent (N = 170 dyads) who completed a virtual assessment. Adolescents reported on their sleep impairment and sleep hygiene behaviors, and all participants completed a newly developed scale to assess attitudes toward the importance of prioritizing sleep over other activities/responsibilities. RESULTS: Results suggest that older adolescents reported more negative sleep attitudes, and adolescents reported more negative sleep attitudes compared to adult/parent participants. More negative sleep attitudes were associated with poorer sleep hygiene behaviors. Parent sleep attitudes significantly predicted their adolescent's sleep attitudes, even after adjusting for family income, education, and adolescent age and sex. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to our knowledge to quantitatively examine adolescent sleep attitudes. Findings suggest that sleep attitudes are important for adolescent sleep, and may develop within the family system via parental socialization. Future research and implications for intervention are discussed.

Sleep loss and emotion: A systematic review and meta-analysis of over 50 years of experimental research.

In a largely sleep-deprived society, quantifying the effects of sleep loss on emotion is critical for promoting psychological health. This preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis quantified the effects of various forms of sleep loss on multiple aspects of emotional experiences. Eligible studies used experimental reductions of sleep via total sleep deprivation, partial sleep restriction, or sleep fragmentation in healthy populations to examine effects on positive affect, negative affect, general mood disturbances, emotional reactivity, anxiety symptoms, and/or depressive symptoms. In total, 1,338 effect sizes across 154 studies were included (N = 5,717; participant age range = 7-79 years). Random effects models were conducted, and all forms of sleep loss resulted in reduced positive affect (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.27 to -1.14), increased anxiety symptoms (SMD = 0.57-0.63), and blunted arousal in response to emotional stimuli (SMD = -0.20 to -0.53). Findings for negative affect, reports of emotional valence in response to emotional stimuli, and depressive symptoms were mixed and depended on the type of sleep loss. Nonlinear effects for the amount of sleep loss as well as differences based on the stage of sleep restricted (i.e., rapid eye movement sleep or slow-wave sleep) were also detected. This study represents the most comprehensive quantitative synthesis of experimental sleep and emotion research to date and provides strong evidence that periods of extended wakefulness, shortened sleep duration, and/or nighttime awakenings adversely influence human emotional functioning. Findings provide an integrative foundation for future research on sleep and emotion and elucidate the precise ways that inadequate sleep may impact our daytime emotional lives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep restriction reduces positive social emotions and desire to connect with others.

Feeling connected with others and experiencing positive interpersonal interactions is associated with physical health and psychological functioning. Despite the importance of social experiences, experimental studies investigating how sleep impacts social connections and positive social experiences are limited. The current study sought to examine how sleep loss impacted social motivation and emotions. Healthy emerging adults (N = 53; 83% female, ages 18-28 years) were randomly assigned to one night of sleep restriction (4h time in bed) or typical sleep (8 h time in bed). Following the experimental night, participants reported on their desire to pursue social connections, and completed a reflection task where they wrote about something generous someone did for them. After the reflection, participants reported on their positive and negative social emotions (gratitude, connectedness, guilt, indebtedness). Coding of the reflections was conducted to extract emotional tone and social words used. Sleep restricted participants reported reduced motivation to pursue social connections, and less gratitude and feelings of connectedness after the reflection compared to the control condition. Sleep restricted participants also used fewer socially-oriented words (i.e. words focused on other people) when reflecting on this interpersonal event. No differences emerged in guilt or indebtedness or emotional tone of the reflection. Findings suggest that sleep loss may decrease desire to engage in social interactions and reduces positive social emotions. These findings expand the limited body of research on sleep and social functioning by examining the impact of partial sleep restriction on social motivation, and on the experience of social emotions within a positive interpersonal context.

Sleep Disturbances and Delayed Sleep Timing are Associated with Greater Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Youth Following Hurricane Harvey.

Sleep patterns following a natural disaster are associated with mental health difficulties, but research in youth samples has been limited to subjective reports of sleep. Participants (N = 68, 8-17 years old) completed an assessment 6-9 months after Hurricane Harvey, which included subjective measures of sleep, chronotype, hurricane-related post-traumatic stress symptoms, and one week of actigraphy. Prior to the hurricane, parents provided reports on emotional symptoms. Controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, participation time, and pre-hurricane emotional symptoms, subjective sleep disturbances and an eveningness chronotype were associated with greater post-traumatic stress, with the strongest effects observed for re-experiencing, negative cognitions/mood, and arousal/reactivity symptoms. Later sleep timing as measured by actigraphy was associated with greater arousal/reactivity symptoms and shorter sleep duration was associated with greater avoidance symptoms. As extreme weather-related events are expected to become more frequent and severe, these findings contribute to models of youth risk and resilience.

Children's Emotional Expressivity After Sleep Restriction Forecasts Social Problems Years Later.

Sleep patterns affect children's socioemotional functioning in ways that may predict long-term social problems. However, precise mechanisms through which these effects occur remain unexplored and thus unknown. Building on findings in adults, the current study examined whether changes in children's facial expressions of emotion after sleep restriction predict social problems concurrently and/or longitudinally. At time 1, 37 children (mean = 9.08 years, SD = 1.3) completed in-lab emotional assessments both when rested and after two nights of sleep restriction. Participants' parents provided reports of their child's social problems at time 1 and approximately 2 years later (time 2; mean = 11.26 years, SD = 1.6). Children who exhibited less positive facial expressions in response to positive images after sleep restriction evidenced greater social problems longitudinally, even when controlling for earlier social problems. Results suggest that inadequate sleep may undermine children's social functioning via alterations in emotional expression which may become more salient with age.

Correction to: Children's Emotional Expressivity After Sleep Restriction Forecasts Social Problems Years Later.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s42761-021-00078-2.].

Early Adolescents Demonstrate Peer-Network Homophily in Political Attitudes and Values.

Research on political homophily has almost exclusively focused on adults, and little is known about whether political homophily is present early in life when political attitudes are forming and friendship networks are rapidly changing. We examined political homophily using a social network approach with rural middle school students (N = 213; mean age = 12.5 years; 57% female) from a remote U.S. community. Preregistered analyses indicated that early adolescents were more likely to spend time with people who shared similar political attitudes and values. These effects were most consistent for right-wing authoritarianism, patriotism, and anti-immigration attitudes. Our results show that political homophily is evident at an early age when young people are forming their political beliefs and making decisions about their friendships, suggesting that peer political-attitude socialization may emerge early in life.

Childhood adversity is associated with heightened inflammation after sleep loss.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether childhood adversity exacerbates the relationship between sleep restriction and inflammation. METHODS: Participants (N = 46) were randomly assigned to an experimental sleep restriction group (n = 25) or a night of typical sleep (n = 21). Participants provided a dried blood spot sample the morning before and after the experimental night. RESULTS: A significant interaction emerged between childhood adversity and group assignment on C-reactive protein (CRP) after the experimental night (Beta = -0.02, SE = 0.01, P = .03, 95% CI: -0.05, -0.002). Sleep restriction resulted in an increase in CRP at high levels of childhood adversity (+1 SD; Effect = -0.57, SE = 0.15, P< .001; 95% CI: -0.87, -0.26) but not low levels of childhood adversity (Effect = -0.08, SE = 0.10, P = .40; 95% CI: -0.29, 0.12). CONCLUSION: Childhood adversity may amplify the effect of sleep loss on markers of inflammation.

Daily Associations Between Adolescent Sleep and Socioemotional Experiences During an Ongoing Stressor.

PURPOSE: Ongoing stress can result in sleep disturbances and daytime socioemotional difficulties. Data on how sleep and daytime socioemotional functioning may be bidirectionally related to one another in the midst of an ongoing stressor are limited, particularly during adolescence, a developmental period when risk for the onset of mental health difficulties and sleep disturbances is high. METHODS: Participants (N = 459, ages of 13-18 years) were recruited from across the United States and completed an intake survey and one week of daily reports beginning 2 weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency. Participants reported on their daily post-traumatic stress symptoms, positive and negative affect, loneliness, sleep onset difficulties, nightmares, sleep quality, and time in bed. RESULTS: Lagged hierarchical linear models adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, medication use, medical conditions, and ongoing stressors were estimated to examine bidirectional associations between night-time sleep and next-day mental health. Poorer sleep quality and more nightmares at night predicted higher next-day negative affect, and greater daytime negative affect predicted lower sleep quality and a greater likelihood of having nightmares the following night. Poor sleep quality predicted greater next-day post-traumatic stress, which, in turn, predicted poorer sleep quality the following night and more difficulties falling asleep. Poor sleep quality and a longer time in bed also predicted greater next-day loneliness. DISCUSSION: Overall, these findings provide insight into how sleep disturbances and socioemotional difficulties unfold during a major life stressor in an adolescent sample.

Sleepy and Secluded: Sleep Disturbances are Associated With Connectedness in Early Adolescent Social Networks.

Studies in adults suggest that sleep disturbances predict poorer socioemotional skills and impaired social interactions. However, little is known regarding how sleep disturbances are associated with social processes during adolescence, a period when both sleep neurobiology and social relationships are undergoing dramatic developmental changes. The current study examined associations among sleep disturbances and peer connectedness in a sample of middle-school students (N = 213, 11-15 years old, 57% female) using a social network approach. Findings suggested that youth with greater sleep disturbances reported having fewer social connections, were rated as a social connection by fewer peers, and were less likely to have reciprocated nominations, even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and mental health symptoms.

Prospective associations between pre-sleep electronics use and same-night sleep in healthy school-aged children.

Electronic devices are routinely associated with adverse effects on sleep; however, prospective studies among healthy children are unavailable. This study examined relationships among specific and total electronic device use within the hour before bed and same-night sleep patterns among 55 pre-pubertal children (7-11 years) without medical, psychiatric or sleep disorders. Sleep was assessed via subjective reports and actigraphy for 5 weeknights and pre-bed device use was assessed via daily diary. Neither total devices use nor any single type predicted sleep parameters the same night. The extent to which pre-bed electronics use impacts sleep in healthy children requires further investigation.

Civic Development within the Peer Context: Associations between Early Adolescent Social Connectedness and Civic Engagement.

Social connectedness is theorized to contribute to civic development and in turn, civic engagement is thought to cultivate social connectedness. Little research has examined how social connectedness is linked with early adolescent civic engagement. The current study used a social network research design to examine associations between early adolescent social connectedness via their position within their peer network and their civic engagement. Middle-school students (N = 213) aged 11-15 years (M = 12.5; 57% female) were recruited from a remote US community and provided nominations for peer connections and reported on multiple aspects of civic engagement. Early adolescents who had identified more peer nominations had higher civic efficacy. Youth who had fewer connections with different peer groups and fewer connections with popular peers were more engaged in political behavior. Greater popularity was associated with higher political engagement for boys, but not girls. Greater connections with different peer groups was associated with greater environmentalism for younger but not older teens. These findings highlight the need to consider adolescent civic development within the peer context.

Which objective sleep elements predict children's perceptions of good sleep quality? A preliminary investigation based on polysomnography and actigraphy.

OBJECTIVES: Objective sleep elements that underlie child ratings of sleep quality are largely unknown. Child-based sleep recommendations, therefore, typically focus on duration. An expert panel recently provided specific recommendations regarding objective sleep parameters that correspond with higher quality sleep, but child-based studies from which to draw conclusions were notably limited. The present study used actigraphy and polysomnography to explore sleep continuity and architectural variables that correspond with higher ratings of sleep quality in a sample of school-aged children. METHODS: Fifty-two healthy, prepubertal children (aged 7-11 years) completed one night of unattended ambulatory polysomnography at home with concurrent actigraphy and provided sleep quality ratings the following morning. Associations between sleep variables and subjective ratings were examined using polynomial regression models to examine potential linear and nonlinear relationships. RESULTS: In contrast to findings among adults, total sleep time, sleep onset latency, and sleep efficiency values were unrelated to child ratings of sleep quality. Wake after sleep onset (WASO) showed a curvilinear (reversed j-shaped) relationship such that perceptions of sleep quality were high when WASO values were less than approximately 30 minutes. For sleep architecture, N1% showed a significant quadratic association with sleep quality such that N1% between 2% and 6% corresponded with high sleep quality ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support expert recommendations regarding WASO values that predict high quality sleep in children, but also await replication. There is need for additional research aimed at understanding objective sleep elements and other influences of children's perceptions of sleep quality using linear and nonlinear models.

Bidirectional relationships between sleep and biomarkers of stress and immunity in youth.

Insufficient sleep during childhood can lead to physical and mental health issues. In adults, sleep disturbances have been associated with altered levels of stress hormones and inflammatory cytokines, but data in youth is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore relationships between objective measures of sleep and salivary biomarkers in children and adolescents. Participants (N = 55, aged 8-16 years, 53% female) wore an actigraph sleep monitor in their home for seven nights and completed sleep diaries and the School Sleep Habits Survey (SSHS). Participants also donated first waking saliva samples, which were later assayed for α-amylase (sAA), cortisol, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1ß. While sAA was not associated with objective sleep it did show a positive association with self-reported sleep disturbance. Morning cortisol levels were associated with objective sleep variables, including minutes spent awake the night before sampling, and sleep efficiency and awakenings the night after sampling. Morning IL-6 was associated with prior night sleep efficiency and minutes spent awake the night after saliva sampling. Likewise, IL-1ß levels were associated with sleep duration and sleep onset latency during the nighttime sleep period prior to and after saliva sampling. These results align with other data to indicate objective elements of sleep are related to salivary cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1ß in youth. Thus, quality of sleep on the night prior to sampling should be considered when investigating levels of salivary mediators in children.

Sleep restriction alters children's positive emotional responses, but effects are moderated by anxiety.

BACKGROUND: An abundance of cross-sectional research links inadequate sleep with poor emotional health, but experimental studies in children are rare. Further, the impact of sleep loss is not uniform across individuals and pre-existing anxiety might potentiate the effects of poor sleep on children's emotional functioning. METHODS: A sample of 53 children (7-11 years, M = 9.0; 56% female) completed multimodal, assessments in the laboratory when rested and after two nights of sleep restriction (7 and 6 hr in bed, respectively). Sleep was monitored with polysomnography and actigraphy. Subjective reports of affect and arousal, psychophysiological reactivity and regulation, and objective emotional expression were examined during two emotional processing tasks, including one where children were asked to suppress their emotional responses. RESULTS: After sleep restriction, deleterious alterations were observed in children's affect, emotional arousal, facial expressions, and emotion regulation. These effects were primarily detected in response to positive emotional stimuli. The presence of anxiety symptoms moderated most alterations in emotional processing observed after sleep restriction. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest inadequate sleep preferentially impacts positive compared to negative emotion in prepubertal children and that pre-existing anxiety symptoms amplify these effects. Implications for children's everyday socioemotional lives and long-term affective risk are highlighted.

Adolescents' Motivations to Engage in Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Mental and Social Health.

PURPOSE: Reducing the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted recommendations for individuals to socially distance. Little is known about the extent to which youth are socially distancing, what motivations underlie their social distancing, and how these motivations are connected with amount of social distancing, mental health, and social health. Using a large sample of adolescents from across the United States, this study examined adolescents' motivations for social distancing, their engagement in social distancing, and their mental and social health. METHODS: Data were collected on March 29th and 30th, 2020, two weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in the United States. The sample consisted of 683 adolescents recruited using social media. A series of multiple linear regressions examined unique associations among adolescents' motivations to engage in social distancing, perceived amount of social distancing, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, burdensomeness, and belongingness. RESULTS: Almost all respondents (98.1%) reported engaging in at least a little social distancing. The most commonly reported motivations for social distancing concerned social responsibility and not wanting others to get sick. Motivations concerning state or city lockdowns, parental rules, and social responsibility were associated with greater social distancing, whereas motivations concerning no alternatives were associated with less social distancing. Specific motivations for social distancing were differentially associated with adolescents' anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, burdensomeness, and belongingness. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding adolescents' motivations to engage in social distancing may inform strategies to increase social distancing engagement, reduce pathogen transmission, and identify individual differences in mental and social health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attitudes and Psychological Factors Associated With News Monitoring, Social Distancing, Disinfecting, and Hoarding Behaviors Among US Adolescents During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Importance: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, it is critical to understand the psychological factors associated with pandemic-related behaviors. This perspecitve may be especially important to study among adolescents, who are less likely to experience severe symptoms but contribute to the spread of the virus. Objective: To examine psychological factors associated with adolescents' behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants: This self-reported survey conducted from March 20 to 22, 2020, recruited a population-based sample of adolescents via social media to complete an anonymous survey. Participants were eligible if they had internet access, lived in the United States, and were aged 13 to 18 years. Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes included COVID-19 news monitoring, social distancing, disinfecting, and hoarding behaviors during the 7 days after the United States declared a national emergency. The psychological factors were attitudes about COVID-19 severity, social responsibility values, social trust, and self-interest. The a priori hypotheses were that greater attitudes about the severity of COVID-19, greater social responsibility, and greater social trust would be associated with greater news monitoring, social distancing, and disinfecting, whereas greater self-interest would be associated with more hoarding. Results: The sample included 770 adolescents collected via convenience sampling (mean [SD] age, 16.3 [1.1] years; 575 girls [74.7%]). Many teens reported not engaging in pure social distancing (528 [68.6%]), but they were monitoring the news (688 [89.4%]) and disinfecting daily (676 [87.8%]). Some teens reported hoarding (152 [19.7%]). Attitudes about the greater severity of COVID-19 were associated with more social distancing (ß = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.25), disinfecting (ß = 0.16; 95% CI = 0.08 to 0.23), and news monitoring (ß = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.33) but also more hoarding (ß = 0.08; 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.16). Greater social responsibility was associated with more disinfecting (ß = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.32) and news monitoring (ß = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.07 to 0.22) and less hoarding (ß = -0.07; 95% CI = -0.14 to -0.01). Greater self-interest values were associated with less social distancing (ß = -0.08; 95% CI = -0.15 to -0.01) and more hoarding (ß = 0.08; 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.15). Greater social trust was associated with less hoarding (ß = -0.09; 95% CI, -0.16 to -0.02). Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this survey study suggest that emphasizing the severity of COVID-19 and the social implications of pandemic-related behaviors may be important for teens, particularly for those who are not following preventive health behaviors or who are engaging in hoarding.

Anxiety modifies the emotional effects of sleep loss.

It is well known that lack of sleep increases anxiety and degrades mood in a dose-response fashion, but it is also increasingly clear that higher levels of pre-existing anxiety amplify the emotional effects of poor sleep. The current paper discusses recent findings that provide evidence of these effects and considers potential mechanisms through which these relationships may manifest. We suggest a focus for future research that includes greater attention to anxiety as a meaningful contributor to observed inter-individual differences in emotional vulnerability to sleep loss. Given the ubiquitous nature of anxiety symptoms across developmental stages as well as psychiatric, medical, and healthy populations, the implications of such work are vast.

Adolescent sleep patterns are associated with the selection of positive and negative emotional situations.

Poor sleep in youth is a risk factor for experiencing increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions, which can contribute to the development of later emotional disorders. Understanding of specific processes that produce sleep-related alterations in emotion is limited, although preliminary studies suggest changes in the ability to appropriately regulate or control emotions as one mechanism. The current study builds on this research by examining the relationship between adolescent sleep patterns and a previously unexplored emotion regulation strategy: situation selection. Situation selection strategies are implemented prior to the onset of an emotional experience via decisions to approach rewarding/positive situations or avoid unwanted/negative situations. Fifty-four healthy adolescents (ages 13-17 years) completed 1 week of actigraphy and assessments of situation selection using: (a) trait-based questionnaires; (b) daily reports; and (c) an experimental lab task where participants were given the option to watch various emotional video clips of their choice. Greater variability in sleep timing was associated with less avoidance of negative emotional situations, and a longer sleep-onset latency was associated with more avoidance of negative emotional situations. Greater variability in nightly sleep patterns was also associated with decreased tendencies to select positive emotional situations as assessed by trait questionnaires, daily reports, and the lab-based task, but only for boys. These findings add to a growing body of research on sleep and emotional experience, and provide further support for the importance of intra-individual variability of sleep patterns in youth.