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Adolescents with Chronic Insomnia Report Increase in Personal Problems |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Documenting a "twofold to fivefold" increase in personal problems among adolescents with persistent sleeplessness, public health researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston say they have completed the first prospective study demonstrating the negative impact of chronic insomnia on 11 to 17 year olds. More than one fourth of the youths surveyed had one or more symptoms of insomnia and almost half of these youngsters had chronic conditions. Findings appear in the March issue of the "Journal of Adolescent Health" and are based on interviews with 3,134 adolescents in metropolitan Houston. "The data indicate that the burden of insomnia is comparable to that of other psychiatric disorders such as mood, anxiety, disruptive and substance abuse disorders. The study involved adolescents enrolled in health maintenance organizations who were screened for sleep problems and issues affecting physical health, psychological health and interpersonal relationships at the beginning and end of a 12-month-period. "Almost half of the adolescents who reported one or more symptoms of insomnia during the initial screening had similar issues a year later," Roberts said. The symptom criteria for insomnia, according to the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, includes difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening and nonrestorative sleep over the past four weeks. In the initial screening, 27 percent had one of more symptoms of insomnia, 7 percent had one or more symptoms of insomnia plus daytime fatigue or sleepiness or both, and 5 percent met the DSM clinical diagnosis criteria, which attempts to rule out other psychiatric disorders, as well as the effects of alcohol, drugs or medication, which can be confused with chronic insomnia.
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