Associations between sleep habits, quality, chronotype and depression in a large cross-sectional sample of Swedish adolescents

Abstract

Objective To investigate behavioral sleep habits, self-perceived quality of sleep, and chronotype, and to examine their association with clinically relevant levels of depression in Swedish adolescents. Method Questionnaire data were obtained from a representative sample of Swedish adolescents (n = 8449; 50.8% girls; aged 12–16). Depression was defined as >13 BDI-II scores. Logistic regression modelling estimated the effects of sleep duration, sleep quality, and chronotype on depression, adjusted for socio-demographic factors. Results On weekdays, approximately 46% of adolescents slept less than the recommended length of eight hours per night (depressed: 68%, non-depressed: 40%). On weekends, however, only 17% slept shorter than recommended. Short weekday sleep duration was more common among girls than boys (53% vs. 38%) and girls reported worse sleep quality. The regression model showed that depression was predicted by weekday sleep duration (OR = 0.773, p < .0001), sleep quality (OR = 0.327, p < .0001), and late chronotype (OR = 1.126, p = .0017), but not by weekend sleep duration. A 30-minute increase in weekday sleep duration was associated with about 10% lower odds of depression. Conclusions A substantial proportion of Swedish adolescents do not seem to meet the sleep recommendations of eight hours per night. Short sleep duration on weekdays, poor sleep quality, and late chronotype were associated with increased risk of depression. Interventions promoting longer weekday sleep duration (e.g., later school start times) seem relevant in this context, but further research is needed to investigate the directionality and underlying mechanisms of these associations.