The trajectories and associations of sleep disturbance symptoms with suicidal ideation in adolescents: A three-wave longitudinal study

Abstract

Background

This study aimed to investigate the developmental trajectories of sleep disturbance symptoms and examine whether specific trajectory memberships of sleep disturbance symptoms could prospectively predict suicidal ideation (SI) among a large sample of Chinese adolescents over one year.

Methods

A three-wave longitudinal study was conducted from April 2021 to June 2022, with a sample of 19,095 adolescents from Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, China (51.2 % males; mean age = 12.4 ± 1.6 years at baseline). Socio-demographics (at baseline), SI, sleep disturbance symptoms (at each assessment), depressive symptoms (at the last follow-up), and negative life events (at two follow-ups) were assessed. Data were analyzed employing Growth Mixture Modeling and binary logistic regressions.

Results

The Growth Mixture Modeling identified four trajectories of sleep disturbance symptoms over one year: resistant group (76.2 %), delayed-dysfunction group (8.8 %), recovery group (7.4 %), and chronic-dysfunction group (7.6 %). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that adolescents in the group of delayed-dysfunction (OR = 2.86, 95 % CI = 2.51–3.27) and chronic-dysfunction (OR = 2.14, 95 % CI = 1.84–2.47) exhibited higher risks of developing SI compared to those in the resistant group, even after controlling for socio-demographics, negative life events, depressive symptoms, and baseline SI.

Conclusions

These findings underscore the importance of identifying individuals at higher risks of sleep disturbance and providing personalized and effective mental health services to reduce the incidence of SI.