Harsh parenting in adolescence and symptoms of depression in emerging adulthood: The moderating role of sleep.

Objectives: Harsh parenting occurs often in adolescence and confers risk for depression symptoms. However, individual differences exist and explication of variables that exacerbate or attenuate risk is needed. Sleep problems impair coping abilities and may magnify the effects of harsh parenting. Using a 5-wave design spanning 9 years, we investigated adolescents' sleep as a moderator of relations between harsh parenting in adolescence and depression symptoms in emerging adulthood.

Methods: Families participated over 5 waves (child's M age at each wave was 16, 17, 18, 23, and 25 years; 245 families participated at age 16 [52% female; 67% White/European American, 33% Black/African American]; 132 families participated at all 5 waves). Mothers and fathers reported on the frequency of their own harsh parenting (verbal and physical) at ages 16-18. Actigraphy measured adolescents' sleep duration (minutes) and quality (sleep maintenance efficiency, long wake episodes) at ages 16-18. Depression symptoms were assessed with self-reports at all waves.

Results: After controlling for autoregressive effects, structural equation models revealed that shorter sleep duration (β = -0.16, p = <.03), reduced sleep maintenance efficiency (β = -0.30, p = <.001), and more long wake episodes (β = 0.24, p = .004) in adolescence exacerbated relations between harsh fathering in adolescence and depression symptoms in emerging adulthood. Harsh mothering did not confer risk, regardless of adolescents' sleep.

Conclusions: Interactions between harsh parenting and sleep problems in adolescence may predict depression symptoms in emerging adulthood. The results highlight the importance of considering sleep in attempts to improve mental health in those exposed to harsh parenting.