Exposure to neighborhood violence and insufficient sleep among adolescents in the United States: Findings from a population-based study

Abstract

Although studies have investigated and found an association between victimization and insufficient sleep among adolescents, few studies have examined the association between exposure to neighborhood violence and insufficient sleep among adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional association between exposure to neighborhood violence and insufficient sleep among adolescents. Data for this study came from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 17,033 adolescents aged 14–18 (51.7 % male) was analyzed using binary logistic regression. The outcome variable investigated was insufficient sleep, and the main explanatory variable was exposure to neighborhood violence. Of the 17,033 adolescents, 76.5 % did not obtain the recommended 8 hours of sleep on an average school night, and 18.7 % were exposed to neighborhood violence. Controlling for the effects of other factors, exposure to neighborhood violence was associated with 1.33 times higher odds of having insufficient sleep (AOR = 1.33, 95 % CI = 1.13–1.58). Adolescents were more likely to get insufficient sleep if they were older, non-Hispanic Black, had poor mental health during COVID, felt sad or hopeless, engaged in excessive screen-time behaviors, or used alcohol. Physical activity, school connectedness, and parental monitoring all had protective effects on insufficient sleep. This study found that exposure to neighborhood violence was associated with insufficient sleep among adolescents over and above demographic and other covariates. Future studies that employ longitudinal designs may offer additional insight into the mechanisms underlying the association between exposure to neighborhood violence and insufficient sleep.