Association of social jetlag and eating patterns with sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in Japanese high school students

Abstract

A high prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality has been reported in adolescents, but the effects of social jetlag on sleep quality and daytime sleepiness are unclear. Therefore, we assessed the association of sleep and eating patterns with daytime sleepiness and sleep quality among a total of 756 Japanese high school students. Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to evaluate sleep quality, the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale to evaluate daytime sleepiness, and an 8-day sleep diary. Data on average sleep duration, social jetlag, midsleep on free days sleep corrected, and the differences in the first and last meal timing between school days and non-school days were obtained from participants' sleep diaries. The results reveal that social jetlag is associated with differences in the first meal timing between school days and non-school days, and that social jetlag of more than 2 hr is associated with extremely poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness in Japanese high school students. Our findings suggest that reducing social jetlag to within a 2-hr window is important to prevent poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness for this population.

Longitudinal course and outcome of social jetlag in adolescents: A 1‐year follow‐up study of the adolescent sleep health epidemiological cohorts

“…Our findings revealed that, even if social jetlag lasts more than 1 h, the persistence of this condition for 1 year increases the risk of developing depressive symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness. This trend was also observed in those with social jetlag persistence ≥2 h. Previous cross-sectional studies have reported that SJL ≥2 h, but not SJL ≥1 h, is associated with depressive symptoms (Mathew et al, 2019) and excessive daytime sleepiness (Sasawaki et al, 2022) among adolescents. However, our results suggest that even SJL ≥1 h, when persistent for 1 year, increases the risk of depressive symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness.…”

“…Thus, the health effects of SJL ≥1 and ≥2 h among adolescents are more likely to be greater than those assumed in previous studies (Chen et al, 2022;Mathew et al, 2019;Sasawaki et al, 2022;Tamura et al, 2022). These findings provide new opportunities for public health intervention.…”

“…Lower QOL was also associated with baseline SJL ≥2 h. Consequently, these results suggest that depressive symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness continue to worsen as SJL ≥1 and ≥2 h becomes chronic, whereas QOL and psychosocial health worsen initially when SJL ≥2 h first develops. Thus, the health effects of SJL ≥1 and ≥2 h among adolescents are more likely to be greater than those assumed in previous studies (Chen et al, 2022; Mathew et al, 2019; Sasawaki et al, 2022; Tamura et al, 2022). These findings provide new opportunities for public health intervention.…”

“…To date, many studies have reported an association between social jetlag and daytime functioning in adolescents (Chen et al, 2022; de Souza & Hidalgo, 2014; Kohyama, 2020; Komada et al, 2016; Mathew et al, 2019; Sasawaki et al, 2022; Shinto et al, 2022; Tamura et al, 2022; Tonetti et al, 2022). However, to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the natural course of changes in depressive symptoms, QOL, and daytime sleepiness due to social jetlag among adolescents.…”

“…Notably, one previous report suggested that the chronicity of SJL might contribute to distress and mental illness (Henderson et al, 2019); thus, SJL of ≥2 h and SJL of ≥1 h can cause depressive symptoms if the condition persists over an extended period. In addition, previous studies on adolescents have reported that students with SJL commonly experience daytime impairments, including elevated fatigue, reduced well‐being, irritable mood, daytime sleepiness, and poor academic performance (Chen et al, 2022; Kohyama, 2020; Sasawaki et al, 2022; Shinto et al, 2022; Tamura et al, 2022; Tonetti et al, 2022). The daytime dysfunctions attributed to social jetlag are likely to negatively affect student quality of life (QOL), which is a measure of general daytime functioning.…”