Impact of neighborhood quality and recent life stressors on sleep problems: A longitudinal study of adolescents at risk for maltreatment
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Department/School
Psychology
Publication Title
Journal of Applied Research on Children
Abstract
It is estimated that around 70% of adolescents are not getting sufficient sleep. The impact of poor sleep during adolescence is related to both increased psychopathology and poorer academic and social functioning. While studies have established a link at the community level between earlier school start times and poorer sleep, there remain open questions about other aspects of community such as neighborhood factors and stressful life events. In this study, we investigated the impact of three neighborhood factors (chaos, stability, and efficacy) and recent life stressors on adolescent (n = 1354) sleep habits at ages 12, 14, and 16 in a sample of children at who were either maltreated or at a high risk for maltreatment via the Longitudinal Survey on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Overall, greater life stressors before age 12, led to greater sleep difficulties. Additionally, while neighborhood stability did not seem to predict more sleep problems, increased neighborhood chaos and lower collective efficacy predicted more sleep problems. These findings suggest it is important to assess the impact of various neighborhood factors separately, as the granular approach provided more nuance in understanding risk factors to poor sleep in adolescents. On a policy level, one implication is to intervene in reducing factors that lead to increased neighborhood chaos (e.g., vandalism, open drug activities) and promote collective neighborhood efficacy (e.g., developing neighborhood programs to increase interactions and trust between neighbors).
Recommended Citation
Prakash, K., Tu, J., & Staples, A. (2022). Impact of neighborhood quality and recent life stressors on sleep problems: A longitudinal study of adolescents at risk for maltreatment. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.58464/2155-5834.1490
Comments
A. Staples is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Psychology.
*K. Prakash and J. Tu are doctoral students in EMU's Department of Psychology.