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Associated factors of habitual midday napping among Chinese adolescents

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Abstract

Midday napping, a culturally perceived health behavior, is common among adolescents in China. This study aimed to examine the factors associated with habitual midday napping behavior and explore sex differences in these factors. The sample comprised 1549 (62.5% males; mean age 16.29 ± 1.01 years) adolescents from a vocational high school that provided midday napping opportunities. Midday napping and nighttime sleep were measured using self-reported questions, and binary logistic regression was used to examine the associated factors of habitual midday napping. About 78% participants reported midday napping at least three times a week, and were classified as habitual nappers. They were less likely to be female [adjusted OR (aOR) = 0.59 (0.45, 0.78)], to be overweight/obese [aOR = 0.72 (0.53, 0.98)], and to have poor sleep quality [aOR = 0.58 (0.43, 0.77)], and they were more likely to have mothers with middle school or higher education [aOR = 1.35 (1.02, 1.78)]. Separate analyses showed that male habitual nappers were less likely to be overweight/obese [aOR = 0.63 (0.43, 0.92)], perform more physical activity [aOR = 0.59 (0.40, 0.89)], and report poor sleep quality [aOR = 0.55 (0.37, 0.81)], but were more likely to have mothers with higher education [aOR = 1.73 (1.19, 2.51)] than male non-habitual nappers. Female habitual nappers were less likely to report poor sleep quality [aOR = 0.56 (0.36, 0.88)], but more likely to have morning chronotype [aOR = 2.28 (1.21, 4.31)]. Habitual midday napping was associated with multifaceted factors, which provides important information to understand the habitual midday napping behavior of Chinese adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the adolescent participants and research assistants.

Funding

This work was supported by the Supporting Grant for Candidates for “Qilu Outstanding Scholars” (2018WLJH46) from the Shandong University and the seed grant from the School of Nursing Shandong University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, No. 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, China

    Naixue Cui

  2. School of Nursing, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    Xiaopeng Ji

  3. School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Junxin Li

  4. Rizhao Agriculture College, Rizhao, China

    Naisong Cui

  5. Shanghai Childrens Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Guanghai Wang

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  1. Naixue Cui
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Correspondence to Naixue Cui.

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Cui, N., Ji, X., Li, J. et al. Associated factors of habitual midday napping among Chinese adolescents. Sleep Biol. Rhythms 19, 93–103 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-020-00292-8

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