Date of Award
5-10-2026
Date Published
June 2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
Advisor(s)
Katie Kidwell
Keywords
adolescents;LGB;parenting practices;sexual identity;sleep health
Subject Categories
Clinical Psychology | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Adolescence is a developmental period marked by heightened vulnerability to insufficient sleep, which contributes to adverse emotional, cognitive, and physical health outcomes. Evidence indicates that adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) are at an increased risk for poor sleep relative to their heterosexual peers. However, little is known about which dimensions of sleep health differ by sexual identity or modifiable factors that may underlie these differences. This study examined whether adolescent sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and daytime sleepiness differed by sexual identity, and investigated whether parental acceptance and parental monitoring helped explain these differences. Participants were 5,919 adolescents (Mage = 12.90 years; 12.2% LGB) from the three-year follow-up of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development SM Study, a nationally representative cohort of early adolescents and their caregivers. One multivariate analysis of covariance model examined group differences in the three sleep outcomes by sexual identity, and PROCESS mediation and moderation models examined the role of parental acceptance and parental monitoring in associations between sexual identity and the three sleep outcomes. LGB adolescents reported modestly shorter nightly sleep duration, more difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep (i.e., poorer sleep efficiency), and more daytime sleepiness than heterosexual peers. Parental acceptance was marginally lower among LGB adolescents and partially mediated associations between sexual identity and all three sleep outcomes. In contrast, sexual identity did not moderate associations between parental monitoring and sleep, suggesting that monitoring was beneficial for all adolescents regardless of sexual identity. However, LGB youth reported slightly less parental monitoring than their heterosexual peers. These findings demonstrate that differences in sleep by sexual identity are evident in early adolescence and highlight parental acceptance and monitoring as potentially relevant psychosocial factors in shaping sleep health among LGB youth.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Deyo, Alexa Grace, "Sexual Identity and Sleep Health in Adolescents: The Role of Parenting Practices" (2026). Theses - ALL. 1002.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/1002
