Daily associations between family interaction quality, stress, and objective sleep in adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To better understand the short-term impact of family interactions on adolescent sleep, this study examined daily associations between family interaction quality and sleep duration, sleep maintenance efficiency, and subjective sleep quality.

Methods: Participants were 517 diverse youth (M_age = 15.4 years, Range = 15-18) in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study who completed daily reports of family interaction quality, mood and subjective sleep quality and provided actigraphy-based estimates of sleep duration and sleep maintenance efficiency.

Results: Following days when youth reported that they got along with their parents, they slept 26 minutes (95% CI [2.93, 49.88]) longer. Youth who reported greater quality interactions with other family members on average had longer sleep duration, and youth who reported higher levels of family stress perceived lower sleep quality.

Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of considering daily family life, including the quality of brief family interactions, as an entry point for future sleep interventions for adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescence; Daily diary; Family stress; Parent-child interactions; Sleep duration; Sleep quality.