Poor sleep in adolescents: A study of 869 17‐year‐old Italian secondary school students

Abstract

SUMMARY Subjective sleep quality and its related factors were investigated in 869 (530 F, 339 M) 17-year-old adolescents, who were selected from the pupils of state-run secondary schools in the city of Pavia in the north west of Italy. The study was conducted cross sectionally, and it consisted of a questionnaire based survey. One hundred and fortytwo subjects (16.5% of the whole sample, 19% of the females and 11.7% of the males) met the criteria chosen for definition as poor sleepers (namely, a complaint of 'non restorative nocturnal sleep', 'often' or 'always' over the previous 12 mo). A significant association was found between chronic poor sleep and (1) gender (female) (2) emotional factors, such as worries, anxiety and depression (3) poor sleep hygiene (4) arousal related parasomnia. Only 4% of poor sleepers took sleep promoting drugs (including benzodiazepines, homeopathic products and other medications), generally without seeking medical advice. adolescence, poor sleep INTRODUCTION schools in the city of Pavia, which is a medium sized city of 80000 inhabitants in the north west of Italy. To date, most large community based studies have determined insomnia-like complaints and the use of hypnotic medication MATERIAL AND METHODS as primarily affecting older people (Bixler et al. 1979; Karacan et al. 1983;Lugaresi et al. 1983; Partinen et al. 1983; Hohagen The study was conducted in February and March 1992 in et al. 1993).Pavia and consisted of a cross-sectional, questionnaire based However, various epidemiological surveys indicate that survey involving subjects chosen at random from the 1226 sleeping difficulties are experienced by a remarkable number students (60% females, 40% males) attending the 4th year of of children and adolescents (Prince et al. 1978 (ISTAT 1994). Furthermore in Pavia some kinds of hygiene and parasomnia, are likely to affect sleep quality at secondary schools, traditionally, namely attended by females, pre-adult ages. A greater awareness and appreciation of sleep are overrepresented: these data account for the high proportion problems in young people, of the underlying factors and of of females in our students population. The sample consisted the type of remedy administered, could assist physicians to of subjects chosen at random from the 1226 4th year secondary plan programmes of preventive sleep medicine.school students. The randomization was carried out as follows: This study aims to assess subjective self-reported sleep quality the names of the 1226 students were listed in alphabetical and usage of sleep-promoting medications in a sample of 17-order. The randomized choice started by the 8th name of the year-old students selected from pupils of state-run secondary list. Every successive 4th name of the list was chosen for a pretest group, while the others were used for the sample group. Of the 920 subjects chosen for the sample, 32 were not presentCorrespondence: Professor A. Tartara, Neurological Institute 'C.at school during the questionnaire administration. Of th...

The Relationship Between Reported Sleep Quality and Sleep Hygiene in Italian and American Adolescents

“…13,17,33 This is of particular importance, given existing data that support the role of psychological instability in sleep difficulties during this developmental period. 10,13,16,17 These results also suggest culturally related disparities in the prediction of overall sleep quality. Among American but not Italian adolescents, sleeping in a quiet, dark, comfortable environment and not sharing a bed/bedroom were associated with better sleep quality.…”

“…Existing cross-cultural examinations of adolescent sleep are scarce, 33 and there is only a modest collection of international studies on sleep quality during this developmental period. 3,[13][14][15][16][17] Using these reports to make cross-cultural comparisons has been difficult because of differences in operational definitions of sleep-related variables, sample sizes, measures, and administration procedures. Cultural comparisons are of intrinsic value, because they permit evaluation of the benefits and consequences of cultural practices.…”

“…21,22 Substance use is greater among teenagers with sleep difficulties. 13,23 On the highway, >50% of fall-asleep driving accidents are caused by people <25 years old. 24 Importantly, disturbed sleep quality is associated with deficits in concurrently measured psychologic, behavioral, and somatic functioning and predicts the emergence of deficits in interpersonal and psychosocial functioning.…”

Advancing a Biopsychosocial and Contextual Model of Sleep in Adolescence: A Review and Introduction to the Special Issue

“…It is clear that shorter sleep duration, poor sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness are concurrently associated with both anxiety and depression in adolescents (e.g., Do et al 2013;Fuligni and Hardway 2006;KirmilGray et al 1984;Manni et al 1997;McKnight-Eily et al 2011;Moore et al 2009;Roberts et al 2001;Sarchiapone et al 2014;Yen et al 2010). Given the number of studies that have examined the interrelations of sleep and anxiety/ depression in adolescents, the following review focuses on longitudinal studies in this area.…”

“…For example, afternoon napping is common in some cultural contexts (e.g., Italy, Greece) and may help adolescents in those cultures obtain more sleep over a 24-h period (e.g., Lazaratou et al 2005;Manni et al 1997). Since the beneficial or detrimental effects of napping on adolescents' daytime functioning and nighttime sleep remains unclear (Fukuda and Ishihara 2002;Lemos et al 2014), both cross-cultural and within-cultural studies would be informative by comparing nappers to non-nappers from the same cultural context as well as from different cultural contexts.…”