Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun;41(6):409-416.
doi: 10.1037/hea0001177. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Effects of daily peer problems on sleep and the severity of pediatric asthma symptoms

Hannah L Schacter  1 , Richard B Slatcher  1 , Jacqueline Rodriguez-Stanley  1 , Russell Houpt  1 , Samuele Zilioli  1
Affiliations

Effects of daily peer problems on sleep and the severity of pediatric asthma symptoms

Hannah L Schacter et al. Health Psychol. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Although psychosocial stressors in the home environment place children at risk for physical health problems, less is known about whether or how peer stressors contribute to health problems in youth. The current study investigated associations between daily peer problems and asthma symptoms among adolescents with asthma. The possible mediating role of nightly sleep disturbance and the moderating role of adolescent mental health were also examined.

Method: Adolescents (N = 297) with asthma reported on peer problems, nighttime awakenings, sleep quality, and asthma symptoms over 4 days. Youth also self-administered daily peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) assessments, and parents reported on their children's anxious-depressive symptoms.

Results: Adolescents encountering more daily peer problems experienced more severe asthma symptoms, but not lower PEFR. Mediation analyses demonstrated that associations between daily peer problems and subjective asthma symptoms were partially explained by more nighttime awakenings and lower sleep quality, even after accounting for potentially confounding demographic factors and adolescents' daily experiences of familial stress. However, these indirect pathways did not vary depending on youth anxious-depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: The findings provide novel evidence for everyday peer stress as a developmentally relevant health risk factor among adolescents with asthma. Insofar as daily peer problems were associated with elevated asthma symptoms via impaired sleep, psychosocial interventions focusing on the peer context may help mitigate maladaptive health behaviors and asthma morbidity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Nightly awakenings and sleep quality as mediators of the association between daily peer problems and daytime asthma symptoms. Note. All paths control for effects of youth sex, age, race, height, and daily familial stress. c=total effect; c’=direct effect. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Nightly awakenings and sleep quality as mediators of the association between daily peer problems and nighttime asthma symptoms. Note. All paths control for effects of youth sex, age, race, height, and daily familial stress. c=total effect; c’=direct effect. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bai S, Robles TF, Reynolds BM, & Repetti RL (2017). Children’s diurnal cortisol responses to negative events at school and home. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 83, 150–158. 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.05.027 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Biesanz JC, Falk CF, & Savalei V (2010). Assessing mediational models: Testing and interval estimation for indirect effects. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45, 661–701. 10.1080/00273171.2010.498292 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bitsko MJ, Everhart RS, & Rubin BK (2014). The adolescent with asthma. Pediatric Respiratory Reviews, 15(2), 146–153. 10.1016/j.prrv.2013.07.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blakemore SJ & Mills KL (2014) Is adolescence a sensitive period for sociocultural processing? Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 187–207. 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115202 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brown BB, & Larson J (2009). Peer relationships in adolescence. In Lerner RM & Steinberg L (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology: Contextual influences on adolescent development, 74–103. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy002004 - DOI