Short sleep duration throughout childhood a risk factor for psychosis

Sleeping less persistently throughout childhood may lead to the development of psychosis in early adulthood, according to a study.

Researchers used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to explore the association of persistent shorter nighttime sleep duration throughout childhood with psychotic experiences and/or psychotic disorder at age 24 years and whether inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP] and interleukin 6 [IL-6]) mediated any association.

Data on nighttime sleep duration was collected at 6, 18, and 30 months and at 3.5, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, and 6 to 7 years. The Psychosislike Symptoms Interview was used to evaluate psychotic experiences and psychotic disorder at age 24 years. CRP level at ages 9 and 15 years and IL-6 level at 9 years were used as potential mediators.

A total of 12,394 children (50.5 percent female) were included for latent class growth analyses (LCGAs), while 3,962 young adults (61.3 percent female) were included for the logistic regression and path analyses.

Those with persistent shorter nighttime sleep duration across childhood had greater odds of having psychotic disorder (odds ratio [OR], 2.50, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.51–4.15; p<0.001) and psychotic experiences (OR, 3.64, 95 percent CI, 2.23–5.95; p<0.001) at age 24 years.

Elevated IL-6 levels at 9 years, but not CRP at 9 or 15 years, partially mediated the associations between persistent shorter sleep duration and psychotic disorder (p=0.007) and psychotic experiences (p=0.03) in young adulthood.