THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SLEEP TO PERCEIVED HEALTH-STATUS DURING ADOLESCENCE

The purposes of this correlational study were to examine the relations hips of three dimensions of sleep quality (sleep disturbance, sleep ef fectiveness, and sleep supplementation) and sleep quantity (the amount of sleep obtained per day) to perceived health status in early, middl e, and late adolescents. The samples consisted of 106 early adolescent s (aged 12 to 14), 111 middle adolescents (aged 15 to 17), and 113 lat e adolescents (aged 18 to 21). In classroom settings, all subjects com pleted the VSH Sleep Scale, which measures sleep disturbance, sleep ef fectiveness, and sleep supplementation (the amount of sleep per day wa s calculated from two items on the scale); the General Health Rating I ndex, which measures perceived health status; and a demographic data s heet. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients between the slee p variables and perceived health status were not statistically signifi cant for early and late adolescents. For middle adolescents, however, the correlations between sleep disturbance and perceived health status , between sleep effectiveness and perceived health status, and between amount of sleep per day and perceived health status were statisticall y significant, but the correlation between sleep supplementation and p erceived health status was not. A post hoc regression analysis indicat ed that the sleep variables explained a small, but statistically signi ficant, amount of variance in perceived health status for middle adole scents. Findings are discussed in light of theories guiding the study, and implications for nursing practice are addressed.