Sleep-deprived children are more likely to abuse drugs and binge-drink when they hit adolescence, a new study warns.
Over a period of 10 years, researchers monitored 186 boys from western Pennsylvania, starting at age 11.
They surveyed their sleep habits throughout the study. Then, at the age of 21, interviewed them about any experiences they'd had with drugs or alcohol.
Overwhelmingly, the boys who experienced more sleep disruption were the earliest to start drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis.
They were also the most likely to binge-drink, and used drugs more often than their well-rested peers.
Every hour less of sleep at age 11 was associated with a 20 per cent acceleration to the first use of alcohol and cannabis.
A study led by researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
'Treating problems with drugs and alcohol once they exist and preventing them can be challenging, and we are always looking for modifiable risk factors,' said lead author Dr Brant Hasler, assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology.
'Doing what we can to ensure sufficient sleep duration and improve sleep quality during late childhood may have benefits in terms of reducing the use of these substances later in life.'
The boys were selected for the survey after their mothers filled out the university's Child Sleep Questionnaire.
It was part of a larger longitudinal study of low-income boys examining factors associated with vulnerability and resilience.
Based on questionnaire results from when the boys were 11 years old, their sleep time and sleep quality were calculated.
The study accounted for race, socioeconomic problems, neighborhood danger, self-regulation, and internalizing and externalizing problems.
Worse sleep quality was associated with earlier alcohol use, intoxication and repeated use.
Worse sleep quality was associated with earlier cannabis intoxication and repeated use, but not first use.
'After considering other possible influences, we were able to determine that sleep problems are preceding the substance use problems,' Dr Hasler added.
'Addressing sleep may now be something we can add into the package of our substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts.'
