Adolescents with chronic insomnia report 'twofold to fivefold' increase in personal problems

“Almost half of the adolescents who reported one or more symptoms of insomnia during the initial screening had similar issues a year later,” Roberts said. “Twenty-four percent met the symptom criteria for chronic insomnia as defined by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).” Insomnia is considered a psychiatric disorder.

The adolescent data was gleaned from Teen Health 2000, a community-based, prospective study of the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders among adolescents, which involved a structured psychiatric interview, demographic data on the youths and the household, as well as queries about stress exposure. Interviews took one to two hours.

The symptom criteria for insomnia, according to the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, includes difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening and nonrestorative sleep over the past four weeks.

In the initial screening, 27 percent had one of more symptoms of insomnia, 7 percent had one or more symptoms of insomnia plus daytime fatigue or sleepiness or both, and 5 percent met the DSM clinical diagnosis criteria, which attempts to rule out other psychiatric disorders, as well as the effects of alcohol, drugs or medication, which can be confused with chronic insomnia.

Other studies indicate that chronic insomnia among adolescents can be caused by behavioral and emotional issues, Roberts said.

Roberts said adolescents with chronic insomnia were more likely to seek medical care. “These data suggest that primary care settings might provide a venue for screening and early intervention of adolescent insomnia,” he said.

Roberts’ collaborators include Catherine Roberts, Ph.D., Vivian Driskell, Wenyaw Chan, Ph.D., and Hao T. Duong, M.D., all with the UT Health Science Center at Houston. Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The study is titled “Chronic Insomnia and Its Negative Consequences for Health and Functioning of Adolescents: A 12-Month Prospective Study.”