Urbanisation negatively impacts sleep health and mood in adolescents: a comparative study of female students from city and rural schools of North India

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of social settings on sleep, physical and mental health in female adolescents of North India (latitude 29.5 ^oN; longitude 77.5 ^oE). Using a battery of questionnaires, we compared the chronotype, sleep–wake pattern, sleep health (e.g. sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and fatigue) and mood (via depression, anxiety and stress symptoms) in female students (age 14–18 years) from rural (N = 719) and urban (N = 1033) schools separated by about 35 km, but families had almost similar socio-demographic details. The morning type was prevalent amongst rural, whilst the evening type was prevalent amongst urban students who also had access to smart phones, suggesting a possible greater use of the internet. There were greater negative sleep effects, daytime sleepiness, overall poor sleep quality, higher fatigue and anxiety levels in urban than the rural cohort. Interestingly, these measures also differed between school days and free days, suggesting an impact of the conflict between internal biological and social timings (= social jet lag). We also found a significant relationship between chronotype, internet addiction, mood-related parameters and measures of sleep health. Overall, these results suggest a possible impact of social settings on sleep health and mood-related behaviours in female adolescents.