Childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation difficulties/externalizing problems, and sleep problems in adolescents: Direct and indirect associations among developmental trajectories

Abstract

Background: The deleterious effects of childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation difficulties (ERD), and externalizing problems (EP) on sleep problems has been established. Nevertheless, there is still a need to gain a deeper understanding of the potential direct and indirect mechanisms through which these crucial risk factors influence adolescents' sleep problems, particularly with a developmental perspective. This study thus aimed to examine the direct and indirect associations among developmental trajectories of the focal variables in adolescents.

Methods: A total of 1648 Chinese adolescents (48.12% boys; M_age = 13.69 years, SD = 0.82) completed self-report measures on 3 time points across 1 years. Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the hypothesized models.

Results: Both the developmental trajectory of childhood maltreatment and the developmental trajectory of ERD/EP were positively and directly related to the developmental trajectory of sleep problems; and the developmental trajectory of childhood maltreatment was indirectly related to the developmental trajectory of sleep problems through the mediating effect of the developmental trajectory of ERD/EP.

Conclusions: The findings elucidated the direct and indirect longitudinal associations among the focal variables, highlighting that interventions should target childhood maltreatment and ERD/EP to decrease sleep problems in adolescents with a developmental perspective.

Keywords: Childhood maltreatment; Developmental trajectories; Direct and indirect associations; Emotion regulation difficulties/EP; Sleep problems.