Impaired executive function in junior high school students with excess sleep time

ABSTRACT

We examined the relationship between sleep habits and executive function (EF) in Japanese junior high school students.This study was conducted using an online survey involving 1,919 boys and girls (aged 12–15 years) and their caregivers.Sleep habits were measured with the Japanese Sleep Questionnaire for junior high school students (JSQ-JH). EF was measured with the parental form of the Japanese version of Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (J-BRIEF). A U-shaped relationship was found between total sleep time (ST) and behavior regulation index, metacognition index, and Global Executive Composite Score of the J-BRIEF (i.e., both short ST and long ST students showed wrong EF). Adjusted logistic regression analyses revealed that short ST group showed significantly higher scores on the J-BRIEF Shift, Emotional Control, and Initiate subscales, and the long ST group showed significantly higher scores on almost all the J-BRIEF subscales compared to the mean ST group. Regarding lifestyle, the short ST group seemed to be active until midnight leading to the shortage of ST; however, the long ST group seemed to be inactive during the day, not enjoying their school life, and difficult getting a deep sleep. Executive dysfunction was significantly associated with not only the short ST, but also excessively long ST. Education regarding the importance of sleep is required for short ST students. For long ST students, further investigation is needed to evaluate their EF and the presence of maladjustment.

KEYWORDS:

• Executive function
• BRIEF
• metacognition
• sleep habits
• adolescent

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially supported in part by research grants from the Takeda Science Foundation (to M.T.), in part by research grant of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (15K12721 and 16H03273 to M.T.), Osaka University Program for the Support of Networking among Present and Future Women Researchers (to M.I.), and the Center of Innovation Program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST, Japan (to M.T).