Adolescence sleep disturbances as predictors of adulthood sleep disturbances--a cohort study

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to estimate whether sleep disturbances in adolescence predicted sleep disturbances in later years.

Method: Our sample included 7,781 cohort members from the United Kingdom's National Child Development Study. Sleep disturbances at ages 16, 23, 33, and 42 were measured by asking whether cohort members had difficulties in falling/maintaining sleep or waking unnecessarily early in the morning.

Results: Multivariate regression analyses indicated that sleep disturbance at age 16 was a significant predictor of sleep disturbances at ages 23, 33, and 42. Continuity of a number of risk factors, especially depression, accounted for some of the persistence of sleep disturbances over time but did not explain a significant part of ongoing sleep disturbance.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that many sleep disturbances start in adolescence and continue into later years.