Sleep health characteristics and positive mental health in Canadian youth: A cross-sectional analysis of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.

Objectives: This study investigated the associations between specific sleep health characteristics and indicators of positive mental health among Canadian youth in grades 6-10.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Canadian 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, a nationally representative sample of Canadian students. Our analyses included 14,868 participants (53.1% girls). We assessed the following self-reported characteristics of sleep health: nighttime insomnia symptoms, sleep duration, problems with daytime wakefulness, and weekend catch-up sleep. Positive mental health measures included self-reported life satisfaction, positive affect, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. Logistic regression models were used to assess associations while controlling for confounders.

Results: Participants who had no or little nighttime insomnia symptoms, who met sleep duration recommendations, who had no or rare daytime wakefulness problems, and who had no or little weekend catch-up sleep were more likely to report high life satisfaction (range of adjusted odds ratios=1.29-2.50), high positive affect (range of adjusted odds ratios=1.35-3.60), high self-efficacy (range of adjusted odds ratios=1.22-2.54), and high self-confidence (range of adjusted odds ratios=1.28-2.31). Almost all of the associations remained significant in the gender- and age-stratified analyses.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that good sleep health is associated with higher odds of positive mental health among Canadian youth in grades 6-10. Further research is needed to understand the temporality of the associations and the underlying mechanisms.