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Abstract: We estimate prevalence, incidence and persistence of short sleep or sleep deprivation in a two wave cohort study of 4175 youths 11–17 years old at baseline and 3134 of these a year later. Data were collected using computer interviews and questionnaires. Sleep deprivation was defined as 6h or less per night during the past 4 weeks. Weighted logistic regression procedures were employed to calculate prevalence, incidence, persistence/chronicity, and odds ratios. Prevalence rates and rates of persistence suggest sleep deprivation is highly prevalent and chronic. Multivariate analyses indicate that short sleep increases risk across multiple domains of dysfunction, suggesting pervasive deleterious effects. The broad impact of sleep deprivation and its pervasiveness suggests interventions will need to focus on multilevel changes to increase sleep time and reduce the negative impact of sleep deprivation among adolescents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A reexamination of ethnicity as a risk factor for adolescent suicidal behavior, focusing on whether Mexican American youths are at increased risk, was undertaken. Data from a sample of 4,175 African, European, and Mexican Americans, aged 11-17, are presented. We examined lifetime attempts and past year attempts, thoughts, and plans. Odds ratios, adjusting for covariates, indicate no differences between European and Mexican Americans on past year thoughts, plans, or attempts or lifetime attempts. Although some studies have reported Mexican American youths are at increased risk, we did not find any differences. Possible explanations for disparate results across studies are discussed, in particular methods effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines problem recognition across ethnic groups by focusing on parental reports of mental health problems in adolescents. Data were collected from 1 youth (aged 11-17) and 1 caregiver from a community-based sample of households in the Houston metropolitan area. The sample was 4175 youths and their caregivers (37.8% European, 35.00% African, 25.4% Latino, and 1.8% other American). Indicators of mental health were perceived mental health, life dissatisfaction, and whether adolescents had a mental health problem in the past year. European Americans were more likely to rate the mental health of adolescents as fair or poor, were about twice as likely to report that adolescents were dissatisfied with their lives, and that adolescents had a mental health problem in the past year. Interventions to help minority families in the identification of youth's mental health problems may need to address cultural differences in the definition of mental health problems or in the benefit of labeling mental health problems that may serve as barriers to help-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex differences in depressive symptomatology among Mexican Americans are examined using data from two sample surveys conducted in Alameda County, California, in 1975 and 1978. In both studies, women reported more depressive symptoms than men, even after controlling for the effects of age, education, and income. Among the married, the employed reported fewer depressive symptoms than the nonemployed, and controlling for the effects of employment on depression eliminated the sex differentials observed initially. Also, in both studies, there was no difference in the depression scores of employed men and women. This finding for Mexican Americans is at variance with most findings from other populations, in which employed men generally report less depression than their female counterparts. Another finding was that housewives in both studies reported more symptoms of depression than did working men, which is consistent with previous research results. In regard to the contrast between employed and nonemployed women, in one sample the housewives were more depressed while in the other there was no difference between these two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]