Bullying and Loss of Sleep Are Related

Though the direction of the correlation could not be established, a new study demonstrated recently that aggressive and bullying behavior in kids is related to the amount and quality of sleep they get nightly.

At this point, the researchers behind the work cannot say whether the loss of sleep is causing a more prone tendency towards aggression, or if bullying behavior directly leads to getting less sleep.

The investigation was carried out by researchers at the University of Michigan. They say that the study was cross-sectional and, as such, causality cannot be determined accurately. However, it may be possible to start other studies based on these conclusions.

A more in-depth investigation could determine all of the aspects that the current study couldn't. Finding the aspects that underly bullying is essential to stopping this behavior in schools around the world.

“Our study was cross-sectional and cannot prove causality. But dose-response findings were consistent with the hypothesis that sleep-disordered breathing, and sleepiness in particular, could contribute to conduct problems in schoolchildren,” U-M expert Louise O’Brien, PhD, says.

One of the main reasons why the correlation exists may have already been found in a past study. The work demonstrated that getting less sleep than normal can lead to impaired emotional regulation in both children and adults, PsychCentral reports.

As such, the new conclusions “raise the possibility that addressing the underpinnings of childhood sleepiness may offer a largely untapped opportunity to reduce the common problem of aggressive behavior in schoolchildren,” the investigators say.

Bullying is one of the most detrimental types of behavior children can engage in. Its negative effects reach both aggressor and victim, experts say. The latter can experience decreased quality of life, depression, poor self-image and other such conditions.

Aggressors are at higher risk of developing psychiatric problems later on in life. Bullies are also more prone to substance abuse, criminal activity, violence, delinquency, and other antisocial behaviors.

“Although previous literature has reported aggressive behavior as a possible symptom of sleep-disordered breathing, we now suggest more broadly that common and frequently unrecognized daytime sleepiness, related perhaps in some but not all cases to sleep-disordered breathing, could underlie a sizable portion of aggressive behaviors within urban public schools,” O’Brien says.

Details of the research were published int the latest issue of the esteemed journal Sleep Medicine.