Early to bed helps girls handle stress - Your Life - Brief Article

Being in bed by 9 p.m. makes youngsters better able to respond to stress than those who stay up later, according to a Brown University, Providence, R.I., study of 138 third-grade girls, ages eight and nine, residing in New York City. Researchers measured their levels of the stress hormone cortisol, blood pressure, and perceptions in relation to three stressful tasks during a home visit.

"Kids typically encounter all sorts of stressors in their lives," indicates Vincent F. Capaldi, the study's lead researcher. "If you are able to cope with stress, you are better able to learn and less prone to illness."

The pupils completed a block design task that challenged their intellect, applied a cold compress to their foreheads that mimicked physical stress, and had a conversation with their mothers on a topic about which they disagreed. The girls chose the topic from a list of issues such as manners, telephone calls, actions with siblings, behavior toward the mother, going to church, and taking care of tapes and compact discs.

Levels of cortisol were measured at the beginning of the interview and after each stressful task. Those with earlier bedtimes registered a greater initial spike and steeper decline in cortisol when faced with stress, compared to girls with later bedtimes. That strong response suggests girls with earlier bedtimes have a better-regulated response to stress compared to the more-"sluggish" response of those with later bedtimes, says Capaldi.

Researchers also found a direct correlation between earlier bedtimes and lower blood pressure. Readings were taken at the beginning of the study and following the block design task and cold compress. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses to stress increased with later bedtimes. The third measure--the girls' perception of stressor aversiveness--was gauged after a cold compress was applied. The third-graders with earlier bedtimes perceived a cold compress placed on the forehead as more aversive than girls with later bedtimes. The latest one among the pupils in the study was 1 a.m. The youngsters were interviewed on school nights and all awoke around the same time the next morning.

Previous research has shown associations between sleep and stress in adults, but few investigations have looked at the relationship in children. More research is needed to determine whether other factors shared among the girls who go to bed earlier may be linked to the lower stress levels, Capaldi emphasizes.

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