Association Between Insufficient Sleep, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidality Among Florida High School Students

Jul 13, 2023Preventing chronic disease

Links Between Not Enough Sleep, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts in Florida High School Students

AI simplified

Abstract

42.7% of students with insufficient sleep reported feeling sad or hopeless compared to 28.1% of those with sufficient sleep.

Insufficient sleep is associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms among high school students.
Students with inadequate sleep had 1.83 times higher odds of feeling sad or hopeless compared to those with sufficient sleep.
19.1% of students with insufficient sleep had considered suicide, compared to 12.5% of those who slept enough.
The odds of making a suicide plan were 1.32 times higher in students with insufficient sleep, although not significantly higher for seriously considering suicide.

AI simplified

INTRODUCTION: Emerging research suggests insufficient sleep can heighten the risk of poor mental health among adolescents. We examined the relationship between sleep, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among Florida high school students.

METHODS: Data were from the 2021 Florida High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a statewide representative sample of students in grades 9 to 12. We estimated prevalence of 1 indicator of depressive symptoms - feeling sad or hopeless for 2 or more weeks - and 2 indicators of suicidality - having considered attempting suicide and making a suicide plan - by insufficient sleep status (<8 h of sleep on an average school night). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to calculate odds ratios measuring the association between insufficient sleep, poor mental health, and suicidality.

RESULTS: Compared with students reporting sufficient sleep, those with insufficient sleep were more likely to feel sad or hopeless (42.7% vs 28.1%), have considered suicide (19.1% vs 12.5%), or have made a suicide plan (14.8% vs 9.6%). In adjusted multivariate models, compared with students with sufficient sleep, students with insufficient sleep had higher odds of feeling sad or hopeless (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.83; 95% CI 1.54-2.17), and having made a plan about how they would attempt suicide (AOR = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.00-1.74), but did not have significantly higher odds of having seriously considered suicide.

CONCLUSION: Increased attention to sleep as a modifiable risk factor for mental health among adolescents is particularly important because of the many less modifiable factors that contribute to mental health difficulties in this population. Adolescent mental health programs should consider sleep an important factor in suicide prevention.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license. Use the link below to read it at the source.

View on DOI ↗View on PubMed ↗

Abstract

Full Text

what lands in your inbox each week: