SPORTS PERFORMANCE, SLEEP AND ANXIETY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A LONGITDUINAL STUDY

Abstract

Purpose: In the first year of this 6 year longitudinal study, we aimed to look at the preliminary results of sleep, sports and anxiety with the graduating class of 2023. Methods: Forty-eight seventh grade students wore an ActiGraph watch to assess sleep patterns for = consecutive nights. Students completed a background questionnaire to assess sports participation and completed the Beck Youth Anxiety Inventory (BYAI), a validated questionnaire assessing students' specific worries about school performance, the future and fear. Total Sleep Time (TST) was recorded for each night. Results: Twenty-three males and 25 females wore the watch for = school nights, with average age 13 years (range: 12-13). Two hundred forty school nights of nocturnal sleep were analyzed (Average TST: 6.5 hours). Females averaged 6.6 hours of TST and males averaged 6.5 hours of TST. Males and females played an average of 2 total organized sports during the school year, not necessarily concurrently. On the BYAI, males had an average score of 13 and females had an average score of 12 (mild anxiety). Students who played one sport or less (n 521) averaged a TST of 6.5 hours and students who played more than one sport (n = 27) averaged a TST of 6.6 hours, P = 0.37. There was a mild negative correlation between total number of sports played and the BYAI score in males (r = 20.31). Conclusions: These preliminary results offer a baseline insight into students and their sleeping habits, activity levels and overall emotional state during early middle school. Both females and males of this group fail to obtain the established recommended sleep duration for their age of 9 to 11 hours, as per the National Sleep Foundation. Significance: At this young age, students are in the early stages of creating skills to excel in academic and physical performance and are starting to go through physical development and maturation, which could be affected by suboptimal sleep.