The Role of Sleep in the Relationship Between Victimization and Externalizing Problems in Adolescents.
Victimization is linked to externalizing outcomes in adolescents and recent theorizing suggests that sleep plays a role in this relationship; however, there is little evidence examining sleep as a mediator. This study examines associations between victimization experiences and changes in aggression, delinquency, and drug use. Data were obtained from three waves of a school-based study with middle-school youth (n = 785; 55 % female; 20 % African American; M = 12.32, SD = .51 years at T1), and path analyses were used to test the key hypotheses. Analyses controlling for major life events, demographic factors, and school site revealed that victimization indirectly affected delinquency and drug use, but not aggression, through its relationship with sleep problems. Further, the effects of sleep problems on drug use were specific to females. These data suggest that intervening to address sleep problems resulting from victimization may serve to reduce some forms of externalizing behavior.
['Sosnowski|David W|DW|', 'Kliewer|Wendy|W|', 'Lepore|Stephen J|SJ|']
D000293:Adolescent D000374:Aggression D016009:Chi-Square Distribution D019548:Crime Victims D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007389:Internal-External Control D007604:Juvenile Delinquency D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D008960:Models, Psychological D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders D013223:Statistics as Topic D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
Victimization Adolescents Aggression Delinquency Drug use Sleep problems