In this paper, the authors examine the associations between sleep duration and sleep quality with weapon carrying, with the goal of evaluating whether the relationships between amount of sleep, levels of perceived sleep quality, and weapon carrying is non-linear, and if so, in what way.
Studies are beginning to document an association between sleep duration and a range of adolescent delinquent behaviors, including weapon carrying. However, little is known about whether and to what extent sleep quality – another dimension of sleep for healthy adolescent functioning – is associated with weapon carrying. The authors address this gap in knowledge by evaluating the role of restless sleep and sleep duration in adolescent weapon carrying. They analyze data from a diverse sample of 994 adolescents from Texas, USA collected in 2010. Multivariate logistic regression models estimate the association of sleep duration and restless sleep on weapon carrying after controlling for theoretical covariates and demographic characteristics. Adolescents sleeping four hours or less on school nights were more than twice as likely to report carrying a weapon (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.16–4.89, p =.018). Sleeping five to six hours was associated with higher odds of carrying a weapon, while six to seven hours and eight or more hours were associated with lower odds; however, all associations were non-significant. Restless sleep was associated with weapon carrying at the bivariate level (Pearson χ2 (3) = 10.56, p =.014), but not at the multivariate (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.91–1.32, p =.299). The authors’ findings align with previous research demonstrating that sleeping four or fewer hours increases the likelihood of adolescent weapon carrying. Restless sleep appears to play less of a role. Future research should elucidate the longitudinal pathways between sleep duration, sleep quality, and forms of adolescent weapon carrying. (Published Abstract Provided)