Sleep in relation to psychiatric symptoms and perceived stress in Swedish adolescents aged 15 to 19 years

Abstract

Background: Sleep affects psychiatric health and perceived stress during adolescence. Objective: The first aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of poor sleep in a sample of Swedish adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. The second aim was to investigate correlations between: a) sleep and psychiatric symptoms and; b) sleep and perceived stress. The third aim was to examine possible sex differences in sleep. Method: In 2011, a total of 185 Swedish adolescents (aged 15 to 19 years) from two upper secondary schools participated in this cross-sectional study. We used three different psychometric scales: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure sleep, general psychiatric health and perceived stress. Results: In total, 76% of the female students and 71% of the male students had poor overall sleep quality. A large majority, 93%, reported daytime dysfunction and 60% reported problems staying awake during daily activities. The correlation between sleep and general psychiatric health was 0.44 and the correlation between sleep quality and perceived stress was 0.48. Female students reported significantly more sleep disturbances than male students do. Conclusions: Three out of four of the upper secondary school students presented with poor overall sleep that associated with psychiatric symptoms and perceived stress. These findings add to results from earlier studies and imply that interventions to improve sleep in adolescents, individually as well as on a societal level, should be considered as one way of trying to impact the observed rising numbers of psychiatric complaints. Such interventions may improve mental and somatic health in adolescents and prevent the development of psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Further studies of possible methods, and their implementation, for improving sleep in adolescents should be of high priority.

Canadian 24-h Movement Guidelines, Life Stress, and Self-Esteem Among Adolescents

“…The only exception was the association with self-esteem where sleep duration and physical activity were similar correlates. Many studies have investigated the relationships between physical activity, recreational screen time, and sleep duration with life stress and self-esteem among adolescents (13)(14)(15)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), though most considered the movement behaviors individually and in isolation of each other, ignoring the intrinsic and empirical interactions between these behaviors. To our knowledge, we are the first to investigate these associations in the context of the 24-h movement guidelines (27) at the population level of adolescents.…”

“…Research has shown that short sleep duration is associated with dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviors among adolescents (67). Finally, short sleep duration can lead to high stress and lower self-esteem via increased depressive symptoms and anxiety (25). Inversely, research has shown that experiencing higher stress enhances the risk of sleep problems.…”

“…In terms of screen time, some relationships have been established, with higher screen time being associated with lower self-esteem and greater perceived stress in adolescents (17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Similarly, less stress and better self-esteem were also observed among adolescents that had longer sleep durations (22)(23)(24)(25). For example, Fredriksen et al (23) found that getting enough sleep prospectively predicted better self-esteem in a sample of adolescents.…”

Associations of negative life events and coping styles with sleep quality among Chinese adolescents: a cross-sectional study

“…Using the PSQI with a cut-off score of 5, this study found that the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 26.7% among Chinese adolescents. Studies of South Indian [ 30 ], Turkish [ 31 ], Lebanese [ 32 ], and Swedish [ 33 ] adolescents showed that the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 2.5%, 36.4%, 58.7%, and 76%, respectively, with great differences. Evidence from an epidemiological study of sleep quality in adolescents in southern China [ 34 ] found that the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 34.32%.…”

Physical activity, sleep quality and life satisfaction in adolescents: A cross-sectional survey study

“…Studies from Malaysia and Italy reported similar prevalence rates of 24.0 and 18%, respectively ( 19 , 20 ). However, the prevalence of poor sleep quality among high school students in Spain, Turkey and Sweden is close to or over 60%, with a prevalence of 76% among Swedish girls ( 21 – 23 ). Poor sleep quality among adolescents has become a serious public health problem worldwide, with many negative consequences ( 24 – 26 ).…”