Relationships between hours of sleep and health-risk behaviors in US adolescent students

Abstract Objective To examine associations between insufficient sleep (< 8 h on average school nights) and health-risk behaviors. Methods 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey data of U.S. high school students (n = 12,154) were analyzed. Associations were examined on weighted data using multivariate logistic regression. Results Insufficient sleep on an average school night was reported by 68.9% of students. Insufficient sleep was associated with higher odds of current use of cigarettes (age-adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.45–1.93), marijuana (AOR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.31–1.76), and alcohol (AOR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.46–1.84); current sexual activity (AOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.25–1.59); seriously considered attempting suicide (AOR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.60–2.16); feeling sad or hopeless (AOR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.43–1.84); physical fighting (AOR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.24–1.60), not being physically active at least 60 min ≥ 5 days in the past 7 days (AOR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.04–1.29), using the computer ≥ 3 h/day (AOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.38–1.80), and drinking soda/pop > 1 time/day (AOR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03–1.28). Conclusion Two-thirds of adolescent students reported insufficient sleep, which was associated with many health-risk behaviors. Greater awareness of the impact of sleep insufficiency is vital.