Changes to sleep‐wake behaviors are associated with trajectories of pubertal timing and tempo of secondary sex characteristics^☆

Abstract

We examined relations between sleep-wake behaviors and pubertal development from age 8.5 through 15.5 years in a US-based sample of 488 boys (75% White) and 478 girls (78% White). Applying conditional nonlinear growth models to 7-waves of longitudinal data, we examined how sleep-wake behaviors are related to individual differences in the developmental timing and tempo of secondary sex characteristics. For girls, results supported the hypothesis that circadian changes in bedtimes, wake times, sleep duration, and eveningness preference were uniquely related to development of discrete aspects of secondary sex characteristics. For boys, the hypothesis was generally not supported. Different endocrine systems related to discrete secondary sex characteristics may be responsible for more relations between sleep and pubic hair development than for breast or genital development. Further research into associations between adrenarche and sleep during puberty may help researchers understand more about the origins and timing of adolescent sleep changes.Sleep-wake behaviors exhibit marked changes during puberty and adolescence in part due to maturation of biological and neuroendocrine systems. Prior research presumed environmental reasons for shifting sleep patterns, but recent findings suggest that regulatory control by intrinsic brain mechanisms may play a more prominent role in sleep cycles than previously thought (Carskadon, Acebo, & Jenni, 2004;Hagenauer, Perryman, Lee, & Carskadon, 2009). Sleep-wake changes include delayed bed times and shortened sleep on school nights and a shift to later bedtimes and wake times on weekends (Gradisar, Gardner, & Dohnt, 2011). Maturational changes to sleep typically result in insufficient sleep on school nights with compensatory sleep on weekends, and this pattern can lead to academic difficulties, daytime sleepiness, and depressive symptoms (Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998).The timing of developmental changes in sleep has been described vaguely as occurring during puberty (e.g., Hagenauer & Lee, 2012), at the onset of puberty (e.g., Sadeh, Dahl, Shahar, & Rosenblat-Stein, 2009), or during adolescence (e.g., Crowley, Acebo, & Carskadon, 2007). Even though the terms adolescence and puberty are often used interchangeably, they represent discrete life phases (Sisk & Zehr, 2005). While puberty is a specific set of biological events, adolescence is a broader period of life. Adolescence refers to the transition from childhood to adulthood, with growth in physical, cognitive, and emotional development that may extend from around 10 years-of-age to the mid-20s (Dorn, Dahl, Woodward, Hermi, & Biro, 2006). On average, it lasts five to eight years after pubertal onset (Rosenfeld & Nicodemus, 2003). Given the negative outcomes associated with insufficient sleep in adolescence, it seems worthwhile to focus more closely on the relation between the developmental timing of delayed phase sleep changes and the timing and pace of specific developmental changes during puberty.

Incidence of Daytime Sleepiness and Associated Factors in Two First Nations Communities in Saskatchewan, Canada

“…These results support the notion that pubertal development is linked to sleep phenotypes, as the elevation of these hormone levels represents the activation of pubarche [26,37]. Recently, Foley et al reported a prospective association between trajectories in pubertal timing and sleep behavior in a large US cohort [31]; those results are in line with our observation that higher 17-OHP levels were associated with a later sleep timing in our study. We did not identify further associations between plasma hormone levels and sleep timing.…”

Sleep Timing in Patients with Precocious and Delayed Pubertal Development

“…Late adolescent sleep timing has been attributed to environmental factors [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], but might also be related to endogenous hormonal changes during puberty [ 26 , 27 ]. This hypothesis is supported by rodent studies where gonadectomized rodents showed a shift toward later timings in their day–night activity rhythm [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. We therefore examined the association between pubertal development and sleep timing in children with precocious or delayed puberty using validated questionnaires [ 1 , 32 ] and compared those to age- and sex-matched controls.…”

Socialemediagebruik, socialemediastress en slaap: crosssectionele en longitudinale verbanden tijdens de adolescentie

“…Daarnaast zullen we ook moeten onderzoeken welke adolescenten gevoelig zijn voor de langetermijneffecten van SM-stress op de slaap en hierbij ook rekening houden met veranderende slaappatronen in de puberteit. Onderzoek toont aan dat het slaappatroon in de puberteit en adolescentie verandert ten opzichte van de kindertijd (Foley et al 2018;Becker et al 2015). Zo blijkt dat het gedurende de puberteit steeds gemakkelijker wordt om tot laat op de avond en in de nacht wakker te blijven en op deze manier het in slaap vallen wordt uitgesteld.…”