Survey on insomnia and its influencing factors among children and adolescents in Chongqing

Abstract

BackgroundSleep disturbances in children and adolescents have become a global public health concern， with pronounced issues in the Western China. Despite this， research on the prevalence of insomnia and its influencing factors among children and adolescents in Chongqing is still lacking.ObjectiveTo understand the prevalence of insomnia and analyze its influencing factors among children and adolescents in Chongqing， so as to provide references for clinical interventions and preventive strategies of insomnia.MethodsA stratified random sampling method was used to select 9 969 children and adolescents in Chongqing from November to December 2021. Insomnia Severity Index （ISI） and a self-designed questionnaire on awareness of core mental health knowledge were administered. Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the influencing factors of insomnia in this population.ResultsA total of 3 578 children and adolescents （35.89%） were found to have insomnia symptoms. There were statistically significant differences in the detection of insomnia symptoms among gender， ethnicity， education level， domicile， only-child status， parental education level， introversion/extroversion， parental relationship， average monthly per capita income， family history of mental illness， medical insurance coverage， living situation and understanding of mental health knowledge （P<0.05 or 0.01）. Binary Logistic regression analysis identified several risk factors for insomnia， including female gender （OR=1.301， 95% CI： 1.192~1.419）， ethnic minority status （OR=1.163， 95% CI： 1.015~1.333）， junior high school for education level （OR=1.985， 95% CI： 1.774~2.220）， senior high school for education level （OR=3.085， 95% CI： 2.749~3.462）， non-only-child status （OR=1.127， 95% CI： 1.013~1.253）， degree of harmony between parents is not high or not harmonious ［（OR=1.846， 95% CI： 1.669~2.041 for relatively harmonious； OR=2.524， 95% CI： 2.214~2.877 for generally harmonious； OR=2.452， 95% CI： 1.999~3.007 for not very harmonious； OR=2.926， 95% CI： 2.307~3.710 for very discordant）］ and incomplete medical insurance coverage （OR=1.218， 95% CI： 1.093~1.358） . Protective factors included an extroverted personality （OR=0.838， 95% CI： 0.766~0.917）， absence of family history of mental illness （OR=0.719， 95% CI： 0.549~0.941）， junior high school for mother's education level （OR=0.822， 95% CI： 0.734~0.920）， senior high school or secondary specialized school for mother's education level （OR=0.862， 95% CI： 0.752~0.988）， college and above for mother's education level （OR=0.748， 95% CI： 0.633~0.884） and knowledge of mental health （OR=0.854， 95% CI： 0.778~0.937）.ConclusionThe problem of insomnia among children and adolescents in Chongqing is quite serious. Risk factors for insomnia include female gender， ethnic minority status， higher education levels， being a non-only child， poor family relationships and incomplete medical insurance. Conversely， an extroverted personality， absence of family history of mental illness， higher maternal education and knowledge of mental health serve as protective factors against insomnia. ［Funded by Chongqing Science and Technology Plan Project （number， CSTB2022TFII-0IX0074）］

Keywords

• children
• adolescents
• insomnia
• influencing factors