Maria M. Wong, Ph.D., Kirk J. Brower, M.D., Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., & Robert A. Zucker, Ph.D.
Researchers know that there is a connection between insomnia and the subsequent onset of alcohol abuse, nicotine dependence, and drug abuse/dependence in some adults. Recently, a long-term study has found an association between sleep problems in children's toddler years and the chance that they'll use alcohol, cigarettes and drugs early in their teen years.
The study is a part of a family health study that followed 257 boys and their parents for ten years. The relationship between early childhood sleep problems and onset of adolescent substance use held true even after other plausible explanations for the connection, such as depression, aggression, attention problems and parental alcoholism, were taken into account. Long-term data on girls are currently being examined.
Taken together with other studies in this area, these findings help make up a chain of evidence linking sleep disturbances to alcohol problems across a large segment of the life span. The findings suggest that early childhood sleep disturbances is a marker, or a predictor, for early use of drugs and alcohol in adolescence, but not a predetermined path. Nonetheless, parents should take children's sleep problems seriously. If necessary, they should consult with their child's pediatrician or family doctor for help in addressing the problem.
There was no connection between parental alcoholism and children's sleep problems or behavior issues. But children of alcoholics were, as expected, more likely to have started using alcohol and drugs early in adolescence. This kind of family-associated risk is well known to exist.
The link between sleep problems and substance use was clear, even after controlling for parental alcoholism. Boys with early-childhood sleep problems were 2.3 times more likely to have started using alcohol by age 14, and 2.3 times more likely to smoke cigarettes occasionally or regularly, than boys whose mothers hadn't observed sleep problems.
They were also 2.6 times more likely to have used marijuana, and 2.2 times more likely to have used illicit drugs. The only drug related issue to which sleep problems weren't significantly linked was how early the boys had gotten drunk.
The researchers re-analyzed the data to examine whether the relationship between sleep problems and the early onset of substance use was in part due to the presence of attention problems, aggression and anxiety/depression. Although early childhood sleep problems predicted attention problems and anxiety/depression in late childhood, these problems did not predict the onset of substance abuse independent of sleep problems.
It is still unclear why there is a long term relationship between childhood sleep problems and early onset of substance use. There are at least three possibilities. First, sleep problems and substance problems may share some neurobiological dysfunction whose details are not yet known. Second, sleep problems may lead to poor choices and judgment in peer relationships and activities, which in turn results in a poor choice of friends and early substance use. Third, teens who have sleep problems may use these drugs to self-medicate to relieve their physical distress. The researchers plan to conduct further studies on all of these issues.
It is important for parents to pay attention to their children's complaints about insomnia and overtiredness. If necessary, they should discuss these problems with their child's health care provider. They should also set a regular sleep schedule for their children, ensure they get adequate amounts of sleep, and encourage their children to engage in relaxing, not stimulating, activities before bed.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Principal Investigator of the study is Dr. Robert A. Zucker.
May not be reproduced in any format without written permission.
