Longitudinal prevalence and correlates of short and long sleep duration among Filipino children and adolescents

Objective The frequency and correlates of short nocturnal sleep duration (SNS) and long nocturnal sleep duration (LNS) among children and adolescents have not been examined in a longitudinal study in Southeast Asia. Methods This study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with SNS and LNS using six waves (2016–2023) of the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC). Community residents aged ≥10 years with complete data on sleep duration were included (pooled sample: 25,692 observations). Fixed-effects multinomial logistic regressions were employed to estimate the longitudinal correlations between individual-level, relationship-level, and community-level factors with SNS and LNS (normal nocturnal sleep duration served as reference), stratified by sex, for the study waves 1-4 and 6-7 spanning 2016–2023. Results Among the total analytic pooled sample, the weighted prevalence of SNS was 39.1%, normal nocturnal sleep duration was 58.1% and LNS was 2.8%. Factors associated with SNS included increasing screen exposure (hours online, and stranger chat), lower sports activity, greater unhappiness, higher depressive symptoms of the mother or caregiver, and transitioning to urban residence. Factors associated with LNS included higher household income, and decreasing physical peer victimization. Conclusions Almost two in five children and adolescents experienced SNS and 2.8% LNS. Several individual-, relationship- and community-level factors were identified as correlates of SNS and LNS.