Bedtimes, Self-Control, and Deviance among Rural Adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Studies have shown how sleep is associated with both adolescent self-control and deviance. However, less is known about the influence of late bedtimes in particular, as well as the specific mechanisms underlying the bedtime-deviance link. The current study tested whether low self-control mediated this link, and whether the association varied by sex and age. A sample of 940 adolescents were recruited from a middle school and a high school in rural Kentucky (53% female, 77.1% European American, Mage = 14.8 years). Model tests were completed in SPSS using PROCESS. Bedtime was negatively associated with self-control (b = .070, p < .001); self-control was negatively associated with deviance (b = .329, p < .001); bedtime was positively related to deviance (b = .105, p < .001); and the bedtime-deviance link was significantly mediated by self-control, R2 = .236, b = .105, 95% CI [0.013, 0.035]. Age and sex significantly moderated the self-control-deviance link, not the bedtimes-self-control link. Findings provided evidence that sleep behaviors may also have some importance theoretically, related to self-control theory and its interpretation. Additional models tests will examine the extent to which these relationships were moderated by middle school versus high school sample and by family structure.

Authors

• Dan Liu, University of Kentucky

• Albert J. Ksinan, University of Kentucky

• Alexander T. Vazsonyi, University of Kentucky