Associations between different components of executive control in childhood and sleep problems in early adolescence: A longitudinal study.

Research has examined the impact of poor sleep on executive control and related abilities, but the inverse relationship has received less attention. Youth completed objective executive control tasks in childhood (N = 208; Mage = 10.03; 50.5% girls) and self-report measures of sleep-wake problems and daytime sleepiness in early adolescence (Mage = 12.00). Poorer interference suppression and flexible shifting abilities both predicted sleep-wake problems, but response inhibition and working memory did not. For daytime sleepiness, interference suppression was the only significant predictor among executive control components. Socioeconomic status did not moderate any of these associations. Findings have implications for targeting specific executive control abilities in childhood to improve sleep outcomes later in development.