Abstract
Objectives
Starting in adolescence, female sex is a strong risk factor for the development of
insomnia. Reasons for this are unclear but could involve altered stress reactivity
and/or autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation, which are strongly associated
with the pathophysiology of insomnia. We investigated sex differences in the effect
of stress on sleep and ANS activity in adolescents, using the first night in the laboratory
as an experimental sleep-related stressor.
Design
Repeated measures (first night vs. a subsequent night) with age (older/younger) and
sex (males/females) as between factors.
Setting
Recordings were performed at the human sleep laboratory at SRI International.
Participants
One hundred six healthy adolescents (Age, mean ± SD: 15.2 ± 2.0 years; 57 boys).
Measures
Polysomnographic sleep, nocturnal heart rate (HR), and frequency-domain spectral ANS
HR variability (HRV) indices.
Results
Boys and girls showed a first-night effect, characterized by lower sleep efficiency,
lower %N1 and %N2 sleep, more wake after sleep onset and %N3 sleep, altered sleep
microstructure (increased high-frequency sigma and Beta1 electroencephalographic activity),
and reduced vagal activity (P < .05) on the first laboratory night compared to a subsequent night. The first night
ANS stress effect (increases in HR and suppression in vagal HRV during rapid eye movement
sleep) was greater in girls than boys (P < .05).
Conclusions
Sleep and ANS activity were altered during the first laboratory night in adolescents,
with girls exhibiting greater ANS alterations than boys. Findings suggest that girls
may be more vulnerable than boys to sleep-specific stressors, which could contribute
to their increased risk for developing stress-related sleep disturbances.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 27, 2020
Identification
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© 2020 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
