Childhood Sleep Problems May Presage Adult Addiction

Children who have trouble sleeping may be at increased risk of alcohol and other drug problems when they reach young adulthood, according to researcher Marie M. Wong of Idaho State University.

Science Daily reported April 7 that Wong and colleagues studied the sleep patterns and drug-use history of 386 subjects, tracking them from ages 3 through 20.

“We found that ’having trouble sleeping’ in early childhood, ages three to five, predicted a higher probability of ’having trouble sleeping’ in adolescence, ages 11 to 17, which in turn predicted the presence of drug-related problems in young adulthood ages 18 to 21,” said Wong. “Overtiredness in early childhood predicted lower response inhibition — that is, having problems inhibiting impulses and behavior — in adolescence, which predicted higher numbers of illicit drugs used.

“Overtiredness in childhood also directly predicted the presence of binge drinking, blackouts, driving after drinking alcohol, and the number of lifetime alcohol problems in young adulthood,” added Wong.

The reasons for the association remain unclear, Wong said.

The research was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and will appear in the June 2010 issue.