Cited by 271Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesSleep and related disordersChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Sleep problems in early childhood and early onset of alcohol and other drug use in adolescence

Open access
Wong, Maria M., Brower, Kirk J., Fitzgerald, Hiram E., Zucker, Robert A.·2004·Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research

Abstract

BACKGROUND: No prospective studies exist on the relationship between sleep problems early in life and subsequent alcohol use. Stimulated by the adult literature linking sleep problems to the subsequent onset of alcohol use disorders in some adults, we examined whether sleep problems in early childhood predicted the onset of alcohol and other drug use in adolescence and whether such a relationship was mediated by other known predictors of this relationship, namely, attention problems, anxiety/depression, and aggression in late childhood. METHODS: This study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study of the development of risk for alcohol and other substance use disorders. Study participants were 257 boys from a community-recruited sample of high-risk families. RESULTS: Mothers' ratings of their children's sleep problems at ages 3 to 5 years significantly predicted an early onset of any use of alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs, as well as an early onset of occasional or regular use of cigarettes by age 12 to 14. Additionally, although sleep problems in early childhood also predicted attention problems and anxiety/depression in later childhood, these problems did not mediate the relationship between sleep problems and onset of alcohol and other drug use. CONCLUSIONS: This is, to our knowledge, the first study that prospectively examines the relationship between sleep problems and early onset of alcohol use, a marker of increased risk for later alcohol problems and alcohol use disorders. Moreover, early childhood sleep problems seem to be a robust marker for use of drugs other than alcohol. Implications for the prevention of early alcohol and other drug use are discussed.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1097/01.alc.0000121651.75952.39

Cites

68 of 68 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Adolescent sleep problems were a risk factor for problems with other drugs.

    “Adolescent sleep problems were a risk factor for problems with other drugs.”

    From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Wong et al., 2004

  • Response inhibition during adolescence statistically mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and young-adult alcohol problems.

    “The authors also investigated potential mediators of these associations, reporting that response inhibition (based on a behavioral task) during adolescence statistically mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and young-adult alcohol problems.”

    From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Wong et al., 2004

  • Self-reported sleep problems during adolescence per se did not predict later alcohol outcomes over and above the effect of childhood sleep.

    “Interestingly, self-reported sleep problems during adolescence per se did not predict later alcohol outcomes over and above the effect of childhood sleep.”

    From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Wong et al., 2004

  • Parent-rated childhood sleep problems assessed between ages 3 and 8 predict alcohol problems during early adolescence (12-14 years) and late adolescence/young adulthood (18-20 years).

    “Wong and colleagues (Wong, Brower, Fitzgerald, & Zucker, 2004; Wong, Brower, Nigg, & Zucker, 2010) have reported that parent-rated childhood sleep problems, assessed between ages 3 and 8, and including “trouble sleeping” and “overtiredness”, predict alcohol problems during early adolescence (12–14 years) and late adolescence/young adulthood (18–20 years).”

    From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Wong et al., 2004

  • Depression and anxiety symptoms during late childhood did not significantly account for variance in the association between sleep and alcohol problems.

    “In contrast, depression and anxiety symptoms during late childhood (age 9–11) did not significantly account for variance in the association between sleep and alcohol problems.”

    From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Wong et al., 2004

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Skoloda TE, Alterman AI, Gottheil E (1979) Sleep quality reported by drinking and non-drinking alcoholics, in Addiction Research and Treat- ment: Converging Trends (Gottheil EL ed), pp 102-112. Pergamon Press, Elmsford, NY.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Wong, M. M., Brower, K. J., Fitzgerald, H. E., & Zucker, R. A.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Wong, Maria M.
Venue
Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2004-04
Volume
28
Issue
4
Pages
578-587
ISSN
  • 0145-6008 (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-0277
OpenAlex
W2101208199
Cited by
271
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 18
FWCI
7.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA 07065, K24AA000304, R37AA007065, R37 AA-07065, K24-AA00304)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
sleep disorders, early childhood, adolescent substance use, cannabis use, illicit drug use, attention deficits, anxiety and depression, aggression, mediation, high-risk families, alcohol use disorder prevention
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Age Factors, Alcoholism, Mental Disorders, Child, Preschool, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Risk Factors, Sleep Wake Disorders, Age of Onset, Substance-Related Disorders

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review