Positive Friendship Experiences and Sleep in Adolescence: Data from the GABRIELA Ulm Cohort

• In Event: Pathways to Adolescent Physical Health Outcomes: Unpacking the Power of Peers

Abstract

Sleep problems, such as insufficient or poor-quality sleep, during adolescence remain a significant health concern worldwide (Gradisar et al., 2011). Sleep problems are associated with a wide-range of physical and mental health problems, as well as poorer cognitive functioning and behavioral and emotional dysregulation (Gregory & Sadeh, 2012; Short et al., 2018). Beyond emerging literature linking sleep problems and negative peer experiences (Van Geel et al., 2016; Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2019), less well-understood is the link between sleep and positive peer experiences. A few existing studies reveal associations linking higher quality peer relationships, peer acceptance, and higher friendship satisfaction with longer sleep duration and higher-quality sleep (Becker et al., 2014; Tavernier et al., 2017; Tu & Cai, 2020). Yet, the cross-sectional nature of most of these studies precludes conclusions about directionality. Further, fewer studies have focused specifically on friends, a key fixture in adolescents’ lives. Thus, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between positive friendship experiences and adolescent sleep problems among a sample of rural German adolescents. Based on conceptual models (Dahl, 1996; El-Sheikh & Sadeh, 2015) and empirical evidence, we hypothesized that more positive friendship experiences would be associated with fewer sleep problems, whereas more sleep problems would be associated with less positive friendship experiences over time.

We analyzed data from the GABRIELA Ulm cohort, a longitudinal study in rural areas of Southern Germany with disproportionate sampling stratified by exposure to farming environments. The present analysis includes 893 adolescents (53% girls; M age = 17.58 years, SD = 1.17) who completed surveys twice, in spring (T1) and autumn (T2) of 2016 (7.5 months apart). Positive friendship experiences were assessed with a validated subscale of the KINDL-R (Ravens-Sieberer & Bullinger, 2000). Global sleep problems (including sleep duration and sleep quality indices) were assessed using the validated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse et al., 1988).

Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses (Table 1) and a cross-lagged panel model, accounting for the complex survey design (stratified weights) were conducted. Results from the cross-lagged panel model (Figure 1) revealed some support for our hypotheses. After accounting for known correlates of sleep and/or peer relationships, including adolescent gender, age, mother’s education level, and family experiences, we found that T1 positive friendship experiences predicted fewer global sleep problems at T2. However, T1 global sleep problems did not predict positive friendship experiences at T2.

Findings provide new knowledge in support of the sleep benefits of positive friendship experiences for late adolescents. Positive friendship experiences predicting fewer sleep problems over time, but not the reverse is noteworthy and may inform programs or interventions aimed at promoting adolescent health. Follow-up analyses will examine age and gender as moderators of associations given the potential differences in sleep patterns by age and salience of friendships to adolescent girls compared with boys. We will also probe the different subscales of the PSQI to examine whether different patterns of associations may be evident across type of sleep index.

Authors

• Kelly M. Tu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Jon Genuneit, Leipzig University; Ulm University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tianying Cai, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristian Ricci, Leipzig University
  Non-Presenting Author