Measuring sleep duration in adolescence: Comparing subjective and objective daily methods

Abstract Objectives This study provides the first investigation into the correspondence between self-reported and actigraph-measured nighttime sleep duration in adolescents that disambiguates between- vs. within-person associations. Moderators were evaluated to determine if between- and within-person correspondence vary by participant characteristics. Methods One hundred fifty adolescents (14–21 years) reported sleep time for 1 week, while wearing an actigraph, and reported on moderators, including demographics (i.e., sex, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status), depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Mixed effects models evaluated within- and between-person associations between self-reported and actigraph-measured sleep, and examined whether these associations differed by possible moderators. Results Results indicated significant between- (b = 0.77, SE = 0.08, P Conclusions Our results support the use of either self-reports or actigraphs to examine within-person nighttime sleep duration in adolescent community samples.