Weekday and weekend sleep duration in relation to anxiety symptoms in Chinese (Pre)adolescents

Insufficient sleep has been linked to anxiety in (pre)adolescents, but the distinct associations of weekday and weekend sleep remain unclear. We analyzed data from 3,686 students (ages 9-15) on their typical weekday and weekend sleep durations over the past six months and their anxiety symptoms in the past week. A total of 31.6% of participants reported sleeping less than 8 hours on weekdays, compared to only 7.5% on weekends. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 57.6%. Shorter weekday sleep duration was associated with increased anxiety risk in a dose-response pattern, particularly among females, middle school students, and only children. In contrast, weekend sleep duration, weekday-weekend sleep compensation, and their interaction were not significantly associated with anxiety risk. These findings do not support a protective role of weekend sleep compensation for anxiety risk; instead, they highlight the necessity of maintaining adequate sleep throughout the weekday for this population.