About this session

Thursday, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Neighborhood Disadvantages and Adolescents’ Sleep Health in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study

Healthy sleep is crucial for adolescent development, yet it is often at increased risk during this period due to multiple contextual factors. Emerging research highlights neighborhood disadvantages in social (e.g., crimes, income) and physical domains (e.g., air pollution, neighborhood deprivation) as additional influential factors that threaten adolescent sleep health. Given that adolescence is a critical period characterized by developmental changes, making youth sensitive to social and environmental surroundings, understanding the link between neighborhood disadvantages and sleep is essential. However, it remains unclear who is most affected and how neighborhood disadvantages influence adolescent sleep and mental health outcomes. Utilizing the ABCD study, which incorporates a broad range of neighborhood disadvantage indicators, this symposium presents three studies that unpack the associations between neighborhood disadvantages and adolescents’ sleep health, considering their sociodemographic characteristics and underlying mechanisms.

Study 1 uses Bayesian causal analysis to rigorously estimate how disadvantaged neighborhoods (SES, social, physical dimensions) affect adolescent sleep duration two years later and whether these effects vary by sex and pubertal status. Study 2 examines two complementary mechanisms linking neighborhood deprivation, youth sleep health, and mental health longitudinally. Study 3 investigates how social position variables (race/ethnicity) serve as precursors to neighborhood disadvantages (multiple ambient and social toxicity indicators), which in turn affect youth sleep duration. The discussant, an expert in neighborhood characteristics and youth development, will synthesize these themes. Overall, this symposium will contribute to the literature by identifying which groups and how neighborhoods impact adolescent sleep, offering critical insights for interventions to promote sleep health.

Paper #1
Title	Prospective associations of neighborhood environment with adolescent sleep duration: A Bayesian causal analysis
Presenting author	Li Niu, Ph.D., Beijing Normal University, China

Paper #2
Title	Associations between Neighborhood Deprivation, Mental Health, and Sleep in Adolescents: Insights from the ABCD Study
Presenting author	Jinjin Yan, Ph.D., Fordham University, United States

Paper #3
Title	Mediation of Neighborhood Toxicities on Racial/ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Sleep Duration: ABCD Study Findings
Presenting author	Youchuan Zhang, Michigan State University, United States

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Session chair
Jinjin Yan, Ph.D., Fordham University, United States

Discussant
Daniel A. Hackman, Ph.D., University of Southern California, United States

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