Sex Differences in Sleep Dysfunction Among Youth with Parental Depression

• In Event: 3-233 - Parental Depression and Youths’ Outcomes: Integrating Advanced Methods to Gain Novel Insights

Integrative Statement

Background: Maternal depression is a robust risk factor for youth psychopathology (for a review, see Goodman et al., 2011). Given that depression and other forms of psychopathology typically onset during adolescence, it is important to investigate potential developmental mechanisms underlying heightened risk for vulnerable youth. Specifically, sleep undergoes developmental shifts during adolescence, which contribute to an increase in sleep dysfunction (e.g., shorter sleep, sleep disturbance). Indeed, sleep dysfunction is associated with a wide- range of physical and mental health disorders. Importantly, sleep is a modifiable transdiagnostic risk factor amenable to intervention; thus, it is critical to identify whether youth at high-risk for psychopathology (based on parental depression) exhibit distinct sleep patterns, which may indicate a mechanism of risk. Further, given developmental differences between adolescent girls and boys in risk for disorder, the present study evaluated whether high-risk girls were particularly vulnerable to sleep dysfunction compared to boys or lower-risk peers.

Method: We examined 93 adolescents (ages 9-13; 50% female): 46 high-risk (based on parental history of depression) and 47 low-risk (without any history of parent psychopathology). At baseline, youth and their parents completed questionnaires of sleep disturbance and internalizing symptoms. For 9 days, youth completed daily reports of bed and wake times, which were used to calculate daily sleep duration and averaged across the study period. Using path analyses, we evaluated whether high-risk youth had more sleep disturbance (parent and child reports) and shorter sleep duration. We also evaluated sex as a moderator in these relationships, and covaried for pubertal status, age, and youth depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Results. Overall, results indicated that high-risk youth had significantly more sleep disturbance, based on both self- (=2.85, p=.006) and parent report (=2.65, p=.01), but gender did not moderate these relationships. In addition, there were no differences in sleep duration between high-and low-risk youth (=2.85, p=.006). However, sex significantly moderated the effect of risk status on sleep duration (t=3.23, p=.001), such that high-risk girls had significantly more sleep over the study period than both high-risk boys and low-risk girls.

Conclusions. Taken together, our findings indicate that youth with a parent with a history of depression are more likely to have sleep disturbance, which is a major risk factor for psychopathology. Further, high-risk girls had more sleep on average than boys or lower-risk peers. Although unexpected, a developing pattern of hypersomnia may indicate a potential risk pathway unique to high-risk girls. However, future research is needed to evaluate whether these sleep patterns contribute to subsequent psychopathology among high-risk youth, particularly girls, and to evaluate these relationships using behavioral, ambulatory, and longitudinal methods. Nevertheless, our findings highlight one potential transdiagnostic risk factor that may emerge among high-risk youth, which has notable implications for prevention and intervention.

Authors

• Jessica Leigh Hamilton, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Cecile D Ladouceur, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Silk, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren Bylsma, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author