Reciprocal relations between children's sleep and their adjustment over time.

Child sleep and adjustment research with community samples is on the rise with a recognized need of explicating this association. We examined reciprocal relations between children's sleep and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms using 3 waves of data spanning 5 years. Participants included 176 children at Time 1 (M = 8.68 years; 69% European American, 31% African American), 141 children at Time 2 (M = 10.70 years), and 113 children at Time 3 (M = 13.60 years). Children were from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Sleep was measured subjectively via self-reports and objectively via actigraphy and adjustment was assessed with parent and child reports. Cross-lagged panel models indicated that reduced sleep duration and worse sleep quality predicted greater depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms over time. To a lesser extent but supportive of reciprocal relations, adjustment predicted changes in sleep. Findings illustrate the reciprocal nature of relations between sleep and adjustment difficulties in otherwise typically developing youth. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.