Passing on the Zzz’s: Adolescent sleep attitudes are associated with sleep behaviors and parental prioritization of sleep

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to examine adolescent attitudes about the importance of sleep and how they relate to adolescent sleep behaviors and parent sleep attitudes.

Methods

Participants included families with adolescents aged 10-17 years and a parent (N = 170 dyads) who completed a virtual assessment. Adolescents reported on their sleep impairment and sleep hygiene behaviors, and all participants completed a newly developed scale to assess attitudes toward the importance of prioritizing sleep over other activities/responsibilities.

Results

Results suggest that older adolescents reported more negative sleep attitudes, and adolescents reported more negative sleep attitudes compared to adult/parent participants. More negative sleep attitudes were associated with poorer sleep hygiene behaviors. Parent sleep attitudes significantly predicted their adolescent’s sleep attitudes, even after adjusting for family income, education, and adolescent age and sex.

Conclusions

This is the first study to our knowledge to quantitatively examine adolescent sleep attitudes. Findings suggest that sleep attitudes are important for adolescent sleep, and may develop within the family system via parental socialization. Future research and implications for intervention are discussed.