Anxiety Disorders and Sleep in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Sleep problems are common in children and adolescents. A growing body of research has explored the relationship between sleep problems and anxiety in youth. When reviewing the literature, methodologic inconsistencies need to be considered, such as variation in conceptualization of sleep problems, measurement of sleep, and the classification of anxiety. Despite this, there seems to be good evidence of concurrent and longitudinal associations between sleep difficulties and anxiety in community and clinical samples of young people. Potential mechanisms are proposed. There is a need for further exploration of these relationships, with the hope of aiding preventive capability and developing useful treatments.

Keywords: Adolescent; Anxiety; Bidirectionality; Child; Internalizing; Sleep.