Sleep duration is associated with depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents.

Background: Depressive symptoms have become one of the most common mental health problems in adolescents. Identifying potential factors associated with adolescent depressive symptoms could be practical and essential for early intervention programs. The association between sleep duration and depressive symptoms in adolescents is inconsistent and needs further exploration.

Methods: A total of 7330 participants aged 10-19 years were included in this study. Sleep duration was categorized into <7 h, 7-8 h, 8-9 h, and ≥ 9 h per day. The Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiology Scale for Depression was used to assess depressive symptoms. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between sleep duration and the risk of depressive symptoms. Restrictive cubic spline analyses were conducted to evaluate the dose-response relationship between sleep duration and depressive symptoms.

Results: Thirty-four percent of the participants suffered from depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents with sleep durations of <7 h, 7-8 h, 8-9 h, and ≥9 h per day was 52.66 %, 37.80 %, 27.55 %, and 20.49 %, respectively. After adjusting for potential covariates, long sleep duration was significantly associated with a decreased risk of depressive symptoms in adolescents. A nonlinear relationship between sleep duration and depressive symptoms was identified.

Conclusions: Long sleep duration is independently associated with a decreased risk of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents.