Getting a Good Night's Sleep in Adolescence: Do Strategies for Coping With Stress Matter?

Behav Sleep Med. 2016 Jul-Aug;14(4):367-77. doi: 10.1080/15402002.2015.1007994. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

Abstract

Getting a good night's sleep is challenging for adolescents because of early school start times and adolescents' substantial social and physical changes. We tested whether key indices of sleep health are associated with usual styles of coping with stress and interpersonal conflict in healthy black and white adolescents. Two hundred forty-two (57% female, 56% black) high school students completed daily sleep diaries, questionnaires, and actigraphy across a school week. Linear regression models tested associations, independent of race, gender, and other covariates. Students who reported using disengagement coping exhibited poor sleep health. They had shorter sleep duration, more fragmented sleep, delayed sleep, and increased daytime sleepiness. Unexpectedly, positive engagement coping was related to daytime sleepiness and delayed sleep, although not in models that included disengagement coping. Coping strategies may be an important influence on adolescent sleep. Future research should evaluate the antecedent-consequent relationships among coping, sleep, and stress.

MeSH terms

  • Actigraphy
  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
  • Black or African American / psychology
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Female
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pennsylvania
  • Schools
  • Sleep
  • Sleep Deprivation / psychology*
  • Sleep Stages / physiology
  • Social Behavior*
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology*
  • Students / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Time Factors
  • White People / psychology