Poor sleep quality mediates the relationship between intra-family conflict and mental health problems in Chinese adolescents: a three-wave longitudinal study

Intra-family conflict had an adverse effect on adolescent mental health problems. However, to date, few studies using the longitudinal-design have examined the underlying mechanism of this relationship. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to extend previous study from a longitudinal perspective, and further explore the mediating role of sleep quality that were shown to underlie these relationships. Data came from a longitudinal survey of 932 adolescents (54.0% female; mean of age at baseline = 13.25 years, SD = 0.66). The adolescents were recruited from two junior high school in Guangzhou city, China. A battery of standardized measures was used to assess intra-family conflict, sleep quality, internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms for three times with an interval of one year. After adjusting for family demographics, sleep quality at T-1 and mental health problems at T-1, T-1 intra-family conflict had significant effects on sleep quality at T-2, and T-2 sleep quality mediated the association between T-1 intra-family and mental health problems at T-3. In addition, this mediation of sleep quality was consistent across gender. Sleep quality was an important mediator in explaining the relationship between intra-family conflict and mental health problems in adolescents. Prevention and intervention programs aimed at improving their sleep quality may be critical to prevent mental health problems when adolescents are involved in family conflict.