Associations between sleep disturbance and mental health status: a longitudinal study of Japanese junior high school students.
BACKGROUND
A limited number of longitudinal studies have addressed the association between sleep disturbance and mental health status among adolescents. To examine whether each of these is a risk factor for the onset of the other, we conducted a prospective longitudinal study of Japanese adolescents.


METHODS
In 2004, we performed a baseline study of students attending three private junior high schools in Tokyo, and in 2006, a follow-up study was performed on the same population. The mean age of the subjects was 13 years. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to evaluate sleep disturbance, and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire was used to evaluate mental health status.


RESULTS
The subjects were 698 students, of whom 516 were suitable for analysis. The incidence of newly developed poor mental health status during the 2 years leading to the follow-up study was 35.1%. New onset of poor mental health status was significantly associated with new onset of sleep disturbance and lasting sleep disturbance. The incidence of sleep disturbance during the 2 years leading to the follow-up study was 33.3%. New onset of sleep disturbance was significantly associated with new onset of poor mental health status and lasting poor mental health status.


CONCLUSIONS
Sleep disturbance and poor mental health status increase each other's onset risk.
Kaneita
Yoshitaka
Y
Division of Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Ohyaguchikami-machi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. kaneita@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
Yokoyama
Eise
E
Harano
Satoru
S
Tamaki
Tetsuo
T
Suzuki
Hiroyuki
H
Munezawa
Takeshi
T
Nakajima
Hiromi
H
Asai
Takami
T
Ohida
Takashi
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires