# Effects of Sleep on Academic and Health Outcomes Among Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R21** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $192,416

## Abstract

Education and health disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) are well documented
among adolescents. Sleep, a health behavior, may be a fundamental mechanism contributing to both.
Teenagers are the least likely of any age group to get sufficient sleep
and there are racial/ethnic and SES
disparities in sleep quantity and quality.
Multilevel (individual, family, neighborhood) stressors may also
contribute to disparities in sleep, education and health. The goal of our project, Effects of Sleep on Education
and Health Outcomes Among Adolescents, is to use objective measures of sleep (duration, timing, quality) to
examine if sleep deprivation among teenagers is related to education and health. Our prospective study of a
diverse sample of teens will enable us to investigate the
temporal relationships among sleep, education and
health outcomes. Our specific aims are to : 1) investigate if sleep mediates the relationship between
race/ethnicity/SES and education and health outcomes; 2) determine if sleep mediates the relationship
between multilevel measures of stress and education and health outcomes; and 3) examine whether
differential exposures to multilevel stressors partially account for ethnoracial and SES disparities in sleep.
 In a two-year, multiple-wave cohort study we will follow ~540 9th grade students from two high schools in a
semi-rural area in north-central Georgia. Wrist-worn accelerometers will provide objective measures of sleep
duration, timing, and quality and collected during Spring of 9th grade and again for the same students during
Fall of 10th grade. These data will be linked to extensive student-level education (grades, reading skills,
standardized test scores, tardiness, attendance, disciplinary referrals and suspensions) and health (self-rated
mental and physical health and health-related absences) outcomes from two time periods of those enrolled (9th
and 10th grades). Multilevel stressors (individual-level stress/discrimination, family-level home chaos,
neighborhood-level disadvantage) will be obtained from surveys and publicly available data in both 9th and 10th
grades. Data on potential covariates will be collected including: 1) objectively measured physical activity using
actigraphy when sleep measures are obtained; 2) objectively measured body mass index and cardiorespiratory
fitness in 9th grade; and 3) individual data from survey modules administered during 9th and 10th grades
assessing student characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, sex, puberty, employment, social support, screen time),
and family characteristics (household structure). Multi-level causal mediation analysis will decompose the
contribution of sleep quality and quantity to race/SES disparities in education and health outcomes.
 This project exemplifies a unique partnership between education and public health sectors with results
having practical value to a wide range of sectors and organizations. Results may find that sleep deprivation, ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10005402
- **Project number:** 5R21HD097491-02
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JULIE A GAZMARARIAN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $192,416
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10005402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10005402, Effects of Sleep on Academic and Health Outcomes Among Adolescents (5R21HD097491-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10005402. Licensed CC0.

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