Summary The aim of the current study was to assess the association between sleep duration and sleep patterns and academic performance in 16–19 year‐old adolescents using registry‐based academic grades. A large population‐based study from Norway conducted in 2012, the youth@hordaland‐survey, surveyed 7798 adolescents aged 16–19 years (53.5% girls). The survey was linked with objective outcome data on school performance. Self‐reported sleep measures provided information on sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep deficit and bedtime differences between weekday and weekend. School performance [grade point average (GPA)] was obtained from official administrative registries. Most sleep parameters were associated with increased risk for poor school performance. After adjusting for sociodemographic information, short sleep duration and sleep deficit were the sleep measures with the highest odds of poor GPA (lowest quartile). Weekday bedtime was associated significantly with GPA, with adolescents going to bed between 22:00 and 23:00 hours having the best GPA. Also, delayed sleep schedule during weekends was associated with poor academic performance. The associations were somewhat reduced after additional adjustment for non‐attendance at school, but remained significant in the fully adjusted models. In conclusion, the demonstrated relationship between sleep problems and poor academic performance suggests that careful assessment of sleep is warranted when adolescents are underperforming at school. Future studies are needed on the association between impaired sleep in adolescence and later functioning in adulthood.

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Purpose: Adolescents' involvement in bullying is associated with both sleep and mental health problems, but the nature of this association remains unclear; further, its association with academic outcomes has received little attention. Thus, the aims of the current study were to: 1) determine whether involvement in bullying as a victim, bully, or bully-victim was associated with greater sleep and mental health problems; and 2) explore the potential mediating effect of sleep and mental health problems on the association between bullying and academic outcomes. Methods: A large 2012 population-based study in Hordaland County, Norway, surveyed 10,220 adolescents (16-19 years; 54% girls) about bullying involvement using the revised version of the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, detailed sleep assessment and mental health questionnaires. Academic outcomes were obtained from official administrative registries. Results: 1.7% of the adolescents (n=156) reported being victims of bullying, 1.0% (n=92) reported being a bully, and 0.5% (n=50) reported being a bully-victim. All categories of bullying involvement had higher rates of mental health problems compared to adolescents not involved in bullying. Victims reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression, whereas bullies reported higher rates of conduct problems. All bullying categories also reported significantly shorter sleep duration and higher prevalence of insomnia as well as lower grade point average (GPA) compared to adolescents not involved; however, school absence was not associated with bullying involvement. Bullying involvement and GPA showed complete mediation for bullies and bully-victims and partial mediation for victims through sleep duration, conduct problems, and symptoms of depression and ADHD. Conclusions: Bullying is strongly associated with mental health and sleep problems, in addition to lower academic performance. Findings support the importance of addressing bullying involvement during this important developmental period.

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