Cross-national differences in adolescents’ sleep patterns: a time-use approach

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample description.

Country	Abbrev.	Year	n diaries	N	Mean Age	% Boys	% Girls	% Schooldays	% Non- Schooldays
Spain	ES	2009	1	1479	15.6	51.3	48.7	41.9	58.1
Finland	FI	2009	2	879	15.5	48.0	52.0	38.3	61.7
France	FR	2009	2	1008	15.6	45.7	54.3	35.8	64.2
Hungary	HU	2009	1	657	15.8	50.4	49.6	50.5	49.5
Italy	IT	2008	1	3326	15.6	50.6	49.4	42.7	57.3
South Korea	KR	2009	2	5840	15.1	51.0	49.0	69.1	30.9
Netherlands	NL	2005	7	2772	15.4	47.5	52.5	70.9	29.1
United Kingdom	UK	2014	2	1734	15.5	46.3	53.7	38.7	61.3
South Africa	ZA	2010	1	7553	15.6	50.1	49.9	50.4	49.6
Total				25248	15.4	49.7	50.3	53.7	46.3

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

Figure 1. Distribution of sleep onset (panel A) and wake-up time (panel B) by country and type of day.

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

Boxplots represent the interquartile range (IRQ) with the horizontal line indicating the median sleep onsets (Panel A) and wake-up times (Panel B) separately for schooldays and non-schooldays and by country. The more stretched the box plots are, the greater the heterogeneity within countries is. The whiskers represent the lowest and highest values still within the 1.5 IQR of the lower and upper quartiles. Dots correspond to individuals who report data outside of the whiskers. The country abbreviations are as follows: NL (the Netherlands), UK (United Kingdom), ZA (South Africa), FI (Finland), FR (France), HU (Hungary), IT (Italy), ES (Spain), KR (South Korea).

Table 2. Averages of the sleep parameters on schooldays and non-schooldays by country.

	Total sleep duration (in minutes)		Insufficient sleep (% of respondents sleeping less than 8 hours)		Sleep onset		Wake-up time
Country	Schoolday	Non-Schoolday	Schoolday	Non-Schoolday	Schoolday	Non-Schoolday	Schoolday	Non-Schoolday
Spain	481	584	42.5	17.7	23:31	0:32	7:33	10:16
Finland	506	597	30.1	15.4	22:49	23:32	7:15	9:29
France	514	625	30.2	9.6	22:25	23:13	6:58	9:38
Hungary	500	615	32.3	10.8	21:57	22:26	6:16	8:41
Italy	488	590	35.9	11.5	22:52	23:33	7:00	9:23
South Korea	441	553	68.9	21.0	23:39	23:32	7:00	8:44
Netherlands	518	633	26.1	8.4	22:47	23:05	7:25	9:38
UK	526	608	22.4	13.4	22:34	23:13	7:20	9:21
South Africa	526	594	19.4	9.6	21:19	21:26	6:05	7:20

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

Table 3. Linear mixed models with ID as random effect for sleep duration, sleep duration and wake-up time.

Variable	Category	Sleep duration		Sleep onset		Wake up time
Age		−9,1 ***		9,9 ***		1,2 ***
		(0,37)		(0.37)		(0.33)
Type of day	Schoolday	−104,8 ***		−12,0 ***		−117,3 ***
(ref=Non-Schoolday)		(1,22)		(1.08)		(1.07)
Gender	Girl	−5,0 **		−4,7 **		−8,8 ***
(ref=Boy)		(1,72)		(1.72)		(1.51)
Country	Finland	19,3 **		−52,4 ***		−32,7 ***
(ref=Spain)		(6,25)		(6.5)		(5.48)
	France	37,4 ***		−75,5 ***		−38,0 ***
		(5,95)		(6.19)		(5.22)
	Hungary	25,9 ***		−116,3 ***		−90,2 ***
		(5,73)		(5.85)		(5.02)
	Italy	4,6		−48,4 ***		−44,2 ***
		(3,83)		(3.92)		(3.36)
	South Korea	−39,2 ***		−25,8 ***		−64,2 ***
		(3,81)		(3.93)		(3.34)
	Netherlands	40,3 ***		−70,1 ***		−29,3 ***
		(6,29)		(6.64)		(5.52)
	UK	31,8 ***		−69,6 ***		−37,5 ***
		(4,98)		(5.17)		(4.37)
	South Africa	29,3 ***		−164,5 ***		−134,8 ***
		(3,46)		(3.55)		(3.04)
(Intercept)		733,8 ***		1065,9 ***		351,6 ***
		(7,13)		(7.08)		(6.25)

For each outcome variable (sleep duration, sleep onset, wake-up time) the estimates (b coefficient), standard errors in brackets and p-values are reported. *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.

Sleep time and sleep onset estimate the minute of the day when the event takes place. Values are between 1 (4am) and 1440 (3:50am).

Figure 2. Proportion of respondents asleep by type of day.

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

Analyses show the percentage of respondents asleep in each country for every 10-minute slot activity between during the 24 hours of the day.

Table 4. Linear (mixed) models for sleep duration, sleep onset and wake-up time by country.

		Linear models									Linear mixed models With Respondent ID as Random effect
			Spain		Hungary		Italy		South Africa		Finland		France		South Korea		Netherlands		UK
Sleep duration	Age		−12.6 ***		−10 ***		−10.4 ***		−7.5 ***		−9.6 ***		−7.9 ***		−7.3 ***		−6.7 ***		−9.1 ***
			(1.2)		(1.6)		(0.7)		(0.5)		(2.6)		(2)		(0.6)		(1.3)		(1.5)
	Type of day	Schoolday	−107 ***		−115.5 ***		−105.9 ***		−73.9 ***		−100.8 ***		−122.3 ***		−112.6 ***		−115.3 ***		−87.9 ***
	(ref=Non-Schoolday)		(5.6)		(7.9)		(3.2)		(2.2)		(7.3)		(6.5)		(2.4)		(3.7)		(5.7)
	Gender	Girl	−18.5 ***		6.1		−1		−2.3		−14.6		−4.2		−7.3 *		−4.2		−11.6
	(ref=Boy)		(5.6)		(7.9)		(3.1)		(2.2)		(11)		(9.3)		(2.8)		(5.9)		(6.7)
	(Intercept)		810 ***		764 ***		755.1 ***		717.1 ***		773.6 ***		759.2 ***		676.2 ***		743.9 ***		768 ***
			(21.3)		(29.6)		(12.3)		(8.5)		(42.5)		(34.7)		(10.9)		(22.2)		(25.3)
Sleep onset	Age		15.4 ***		10.7 ***		11.4 ***		8 ***		12.7 ***		14.3 ***		11.8 ***		14.9 ***		15.7 ***
			(1)		(1.2)		(0.6)		(0.4)		(2.1)		(2.5)		(0.6)		(1.6)		(1.3)
	Type of day	Schoolday	−55.7 ***		−28.4 ***		−36.1 ***		−0.5		−27.4 ***		−43.7 ***		7.5 ***		−19.6 ***		−30.6 ***
	(ref=Non-Schoolday)		(4.5)		(5.9)		(2.5)		(2)		(4.8)		(7.4)		(2.1)		(3.8)		(4.3)
	Gender	Girl	4.2		−2.9		−5.7 *		−5 *		12.5		−1		0.6		0.6		−6.7
	(ref=Boy)		(4.5)		(5.9)		(2.5)		(2)		(9)		(11.7)		(2.6)		(7.3)		(5.7)
	(Intercept)		983.8 ***		941.2 ***		1002 ***		926.7 ***		952 ***		929.9 ***		989.9 ***		916.6 ***		917.4 ***
			(17.1)		(22.1)		(9.8)		(7.8)		(34.8)		(43.5)		(9.9)		(27.6)		(21.6)
Wake up	Age		2.8 **		0.7		1.1		0.5		3		6.4 **		4.5 ***		8.1 ***		6.5 ***
			(1)		(1.3)		(0.5)		(0.4)		(2)		(2)		(0.5)		(1.3)		(1.2)
	Type of day	Schoolday	−162.7 ***		−143.9 ***		−142 ***		−74.4 ***		−132 ***		−167.5 ***		−104.9 ***		−134.7 ***		−120.5 ***
	(ref=Non-Schoolday)		(4.6)		(6.3)		(2.5)		(1.8)		(6.2)		(6.5)		(2)		(3.6)		(4.5)
	Gender	Girl	−14.3 **		3.3		−6.7 **		−7.3 ***		−2.3		−5.2		−6.8 **		−3.6		−18.3 ***
	(ref=Boy)		(4.5)		(6.3)		(2.4)		(1.7)		(8.7)		(9.6)		(2.4)		(5.6)		(5.3)
	(Intercept)		353.8 ***		265.2 ***		316.8 ***		203.8 ***		288 ***		250.1 ***		226.2 ***		220.4 ***		248.2 ***
			(17.4)		(23.4)		(9.6)		(6.9)		(33.6)		(35.6)		(9.2)		(21.5)		(20)

For each outcome variable (sleep duration, sleep onset, wake-up time) the estimates (b coefficient), standard errors in brackets and p-values are reported. *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.

Sleep time and sleep onset estimate the minute of the day when the event take place. Values are between 1 and 1440 with 1 representing 4am.

Linear models are for countries with only one observation by respondent, and linear mixed models for countries with more than one observation by respondent.

Figure 3. Insufficient sleep (measured as less than 8 hours of sleep per day) by type of day and country.

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

The country abbreviations are as follows: NL (the Netherlands), UK (United Kingdom), ZA (South Africa), FI (Finland), FR (France), HU (Hungary), IT (Italy), ES (Spain), KR (South Korea).

Figure 4. Tempo-graphs of activities carried out 2 hours before sleep onset for schooldays and non-schooldays.

Source: Own Calculations from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (Fisher et al., 2019).

Activities in the graphs are in the same order as in the legend. The country abbreviations are as follows: NL (the Netherlands), UK (United Kingdom), ZA (South Africa), FI (Finland), FR (France), HU (Hungary), IT (Italy), ES (Spain), KR (South Korea).

Fisher, K., Gershuny, J., Flood, S. M., Backman, D., & Hofferth, S. L. (2019). Multinational time use study extract system: Version 1.3 (1.3) [dataset]. IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D062.V1.3

 Google Scholar