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CHRISTINE ACEBO |
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Irregular Sleep/Wake Patterns In Adolescents
CHRISTINE ACEBO, Ph.D.  ne of the consistent findings in the literature on adolescent sleep patterns
has been the occurrence of large differences between weekend and
school-night sleep schedules in many teenagers (e.g., Carskadon, 1990,
Szymuziak et al., 1993; Strauch and Meier, 1988; Billiard et al., 1987). In
a recent large survey of over 3,000 high school students, Wolfson and
Carskadon (under review) found irregular bedtimes related to self-reported
academic difficulty in school, daytime sleepiness, depressed mood, and
sleep/wake behavior problems. Newer analyses from this survey indicate
that large bedtime schedule differences are also related, in girls, to the
number of days home from school over the last two weeks because of
sickness, and, in boys, to the number of injuries over the last six months
that required treatment by a nurse or doctor.
Evidence from other studies in children and adolescents support the
importance of sleep schedule regularity as a predictor of daytime
functioning. Acebo et al. (1993) found bedtime irregularity was related to
school functioning as rated by teachers in 5th grade students, with poorer
functioning children having larger differences. Results from other survey
studies have indicated that adolescents with irregular sleep-wake schedules
are more likely to report high levels of daytime sleepiness (Billiard et al.,
1987 ), or express a need for more sleep (Strauch and Meier, 1988).
Manber et al. (1996) reported results from an intervention study in college
students; students in the group given instructions to regularize their sleep
patterns showed greater and longer lasting reduction in self-reported
sleepiness and improved reported sleep efficiency as compared to students
asked only to increase sleep time.
Actigraphy data will be presented that graphically demonstrate the
irregularity in many teenagers' sleep/wake patterns, marked by variable
bedtimes, "all-nighters", variable waketimes, and concomittant variability
in total sleep time. Measures characterizing these patterns will be assessed
and related to measures of daytime functioning. In addition, new data will
be presented from a longitudinal survey of college students. We propose
that irregularity of schedule per se may be a risk for dysfuntional outcomes
in adolescence.
REFERENCES Carskadon MA Adolescent sleepiness: Increased risk in a high-risk population. Alcohol, Drugs, and Driving, 1990, 5/6:317-328. Szymczak JT, Jasinska M, Pawlak E, Swierzykowska M. Annual and weekly changes in the sleep-wake rhythm of school children, 1993, Sleep, 16(5):433-435. Strauch I, Meier B. Sleep need in adolescents: A longitudinal approach, 1988, Sleep, 11:378-386. Wolfson A, Carskadon MA. Sleep schedules and daytime functioning in adolescents. Under review. Acebo C and Carskadon MA. An evaluation of children's self-reported sleep measures. Sleep Res., 1993, 22:53. Manber R, Bootzin RR, Acebo C, Carskadon MA. The effects of regularizing sleep-wake schedules on daytime sleepiness, 1996, Sleep, 19(5):432-441. Billiard M, Alperovitch A, Perot C, James A. Excessive daytime somnolence in young men, prevalence and contributing factors. Sleep, 1987; 10:297-305. |