Sleep During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence Among Youth, Adolescents, and Parents

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Much research as well as media attention have highlighted populations that are particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, including youth and adolescents (i.e., isolation from peers, academic difficulties, mental health concerns; Jones et al., 2021), but also parents, who often face family stressors and competing demands of parenting (Brown et al., 2021). Sleep is a bioregulatory mechanism that is critical for optimal health and well-being across all stages of life and may be particularly important during a stressful life event such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing research suggests heterogeneity in sleep during the pandemic (Bi & Chen, 2022), which may look different across the lifespan. This symposium provides a snapshot into sleep health among youth, adolescents, and parents during various phases of the pandemic (e.g., before, during, and after the peak) across four studies that spanned diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, socioeconomic position, and geographic location in the United States. The studies incorporate innovative study designs (e.g., intensive longitudinal data) and statistical procedures (e.g., multilevel modeling, latent profile analysis) to identify key socio-demographic correlates of sleep during the pandemic and highlight associations between sleep problems and negative developmental outcomes, including loneliness, depression and anxiety symptoms, and academic problems, both during and after the pandemic. Collectively, these papers contribute to growing literature on sleep during the pandemic among three distinct yet important populations during different phases of the outbreak, and across diverse samples in the United States, with implications that may inform future interventions targeting sleep health during major health outbreaks.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Chairs

• Jeri Sasser, Arizona State University

• Linhao Zhang, University of Georgia

Individual Presentations

• Pre-Covid Sleep Predicts Sleep Quality During the Pandemic: The Exacerbating Role of Stress and Loneliness - Presenting Author: Linhao Zhang, University of Georgia; Rabeeh Azarmehr; Cory Carvalho, University of Georgia; Brooke Friedman; Avary Ionie Evans, University of Georgia; Assaf Oshri, University of Georgia

• Inequalities in Late Adolescents’ Sleep Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Presenting Author: Ayurda Pathak, Fordham University; Neshat Yazdani; Lindsay Till Hoyt, Fordham University; Alison Cohen

• Student Sleep Patterns During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Links with Depressive Symptoms, Loneliness, and Academic Engagement - Presenting Author: Jeri Sasser, Arizona State University; Crystal Li, University of Texas at Austin; Leah D Doane, Arizona State University; Aaron Krasnow; Vel Murugan; Mitch Magee; Joshua LaBaer

• The Critical Influence of Parental Sleep Disturbance on Children’s Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Presenting Author: Ronald Rogge, University of Rochester; Jennifer Daks, Towson University; Jack S Peltz, SUNY Brockport