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Puberty‐Dependent Sleep Regulation and Alcohol Use in Early Adolescents
Author(s) -
Pieters Sara,
Van Der Vorst Haske,
Burk William J.,
Wiers Reinout W.,
Engels Rutger C. M. E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01235.x
Subject(s) - moderation , psychology , sleep (system call) , evening , psychopathology , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , alcohol , clinical psychology , social psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , astronomy , computer science , psychotherapist , operating system
Background: Research has shown a bi‐directional relation between alcohol use and sleep regulation in adults. Much less is known about this association in early adolescents, while profound puberty‐dependent transitions regarding sleep patterns take place in early adolescence. Moreover, puberty has been associated with an increase in alcohol use of adolescents. Methods: In this study, we investigated the associations between pubertal development, sleep preference, sleep problems, and alcohol use in 431 early adolescents (mean age: 13.66). Second, it was studied whether the associations changed when controlling for adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, we included gender as a moderator on all the associations. Results: Results showed that pubertal development was positively associated with sleep problems and more evening‐type tendencies (e.g., favoring later bedtimes), which in turn were positively related to alcohol use. Underlying psychopathology, gender and educational level did not change these relationships. Conclusions: From this study, it can be concluded that both puberty and sleep regulation are important factors in explaining alcohol use in early adolescence.