Trends in sleeping difficulties among European adolescents: are these associated with physical inactivity and excessive screen time?

Ariane Ghekiere, Jelle Van Cauwenberg, Ann Vandendriessche, Jo Inchley, Margarida Gaspar de Matos, Alberto Borraccino, Inese Gobina, Jorma Tynjälä, Benedicte Deforche, Bart De Clercq*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Citations (Scopus)
7 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives

We examined changes in sleep-onset difficulties over time and associations with physical activity and screen time behavior among adolescents.

Methods

We used data from last four survey waves of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study (2002–2006–2010–2014). Multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore associations between regular sleeping difficulties, excessive screen time exposure and being insufficiently physically active (i.e., < 60 min daily) among 33 European and non-European countries.

Results

Findings indicate an increase in the prevalence of sleep-onset difficulties and in excessive screen time exposure and a small but significant increase in physical activity levels. Additionally, adolescents exceeding 2-h daily screen time had 20% higher odds of reporting sleep-onset difficulties, while no association was found for physical activity. The strength of the association between screen time and sleep-onset difficulties increased over time, which may reflect a change in type of screen time use (e.g., the increased use of easy accessible screens such as smartphones and tablets).

Conclusions

Effective strategies to reduce screen time are key to reverse the detrimental trend in sleep-onset difficulties among adolescents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)487–498
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Public Health
Volume64
Issue number4
Early online date10 Dec 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2019

Keywords

  • 24-h approach
  • Sleep
  • Sedentary behavior
  • Physical activity
  • Trend

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Trends in sleeping difficulties among European adolescents: are these associated with physical inactivity and excessive screen time?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this