Abstract
Objective
This study (1) examined pubertal development in relation to actigraphy-assessed sleep
in twin children, and tested whether associations differed by child race and gender,
(2) modeled genetic and environmental influences on pubertal development and sleep
indicators, and (3) examined genetic and environmental influences on the covariation
of puberty and sleep.
Design
The classic twin design was used to examine genetic and environmental contributions
to puberty and sleep and their associations.
Setting
Data were collected from community-dwelling urban and rural families of twins in the
southwestern U.S.
Participants
The racially and socioeconomically diverse sample included 596 twin children (Mage = 8.41, SD = 0.69; 51.7% female; 66.3% white; 33.7% Hispanic; 170 monozygotic, 236
same-sex dizygotic, 188 opposite-sex dizygotic).
Measurements
Pubertal development was assessed via parent report. Children wore actigraph watches
for 7 nights (M = 6.81, SD = 0.67) to capture sleep duration, efficiency, midpoint,
onset latency, and duration variability.
Results
In contrast to extant literature with older youth, more advanced pubertal development
was associated with longer sleep durations in Hispanic and white girls and higher
sleep efficiency in white girls, though Hispanic girls demonstrated later sleep midpoints.
Pubertal development was moderately heritable and there was a genetic influence on
the covariance between puberty and sleep indicators.
Conclusions
This was the first study to examine the genetic and environmental influences on the
covariation between puberty and sleep, and found genetic underpinnings between pubertal
development and actigraphy-assessed sleep duration and efficiency, though sleep and
puberty were almost entirely independent in twins at this age.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 21, 2022
Identification
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© 2021 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
