Social jetlag longitudinally predicts internalizing and externalizing behavior for adolescent females, but not males

ABSTRACT

Biological changes contribute to preferences for later bed and wake times during adolescence, yet the social constraints of school start times necessitate early wake times. This often results in social jetlag (i.e. misalignment between preferred sleep timing on weekends and school days). We examined whether social jetlag predicts adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior over time and/or whether associations differ based on sex. We used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development Study (n = 767) to test whether social jetlag at 6^th grade (ages 12–13 years) predicted internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 15 years and whether child sex moderated associations. Controlling for internalizing and externalizing behavior at 6^th grade (ages 12–13 years), results were that social jetlag at 6^th grade (ages 12–13 years) predicted more internalizing and externalizing behaviors at age 15 for females, but not males. These findings show that social jetlag during early adolescence confers risk for internalizing and externalizing behavior in females at mid-adolescence. Greater attention should be placed on identifying and addressing social jetlag in adolescent females.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• sleep
• social jetlag
• internalizing behavior
• externalizing behavior
• sex differences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2023.2265480.

Additional information

Funding

This report was based on data from the larger National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD-ECCYD). The NICHD-SECCYD was directed by a Steering Committee and was funded by NICHD through the following grants: [5U10HD02740, 5U10HD025460, 5U10HD025447, 5U10HD025420, 5U10HD 025456, 5U10HD033343, 5U10HD025445, 5U10HD025451, 5U10HD025430, 5U10HD025449, 5U10HD027040, 5U10HD 025455]. The content of the manuscript is the sole responsibility of the authors.