Associations among early life adversity, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms in adolescent females and males: a longitudinal investigation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Exposure to adversity early in life (ELA) has been associated with elevated risk for depression during adolescence, particularly for females; the mechanisms underlying this association, however, are poorly understood. One potential mechanism linking ELA and sex differences in depressive symptoms is sleep disturbances, which increase during adolescence and are more common in females. Here, we examined whether sleep disturbances mediate the association between ELA and increases in depressive symptoms during adolescence and whether this mediation differs by sex.

Methods

224 (N = 132 females) youth were recruited at age 9-13 years and assessed every 2 years across three timepoints. At the first timepoint, we conducted extensive interviews about stressful events partic

SUBMITTER: Uy JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11213826 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature