Youth secrets are associated with poorer sleep and asthma symptoms via negative affect

- This study investigated the links between secrecy towards parents and physical health outcomes in youth with asthma.
- Secrecy was positively linked to asthma symptoms and awakenings during night, and negatively linked to sleep quality.
- Secrecy was also associated with negative affect which mediated the links between secrecy, symptoms and awakenings.
- Findings suggest that secrecy towards parents may influence youth physical health in the context of asthma.

ObjectiveAmong older children and adolescents, keeping secrets from parents is consistently associated with lower levels of psychological well-being. Further, concealing one's thoughts and emotions has been associated with poor physical health outcomes in adults. However, it remains an open question whether secret-keeping is associated with poorer health and health-related behaviors (such as sleep) among youth and, if those hypothesized links exist, what the psychological mechanisms might be. We investigated the associations among youth secrecy towards parents, daily asthma symptoms and daily sleep behaviors in a sample of low-income youth with asthma aged 10-17 and tested negative affect as a possible mediator of these associations.MethodsOne hundred and seventy two youths reported the extent to which they kept secrets towards parents over a period of four days. Asthma symptoms, nighttime awakenings, sleep onset latency, and subjective sleep quality were assessed with daily diaries completed by youths.ResultsMore frequent secret-keeping was associated with more severe asthma symptoms, lower ratings of sleep quality and greater number of nighttime awakenings. Secrecy was also associated with increased negative affect, which accounted for the associations between secrecy and number of awakenings and daytime asthma symptoms. These findings remained significant after controlling for youth age and other relevant demographic factors.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that secrecy towards parents can have consequential health outcomes for youth with asthma and point to the importance of investigating affective processes as mediators of the influence of secret-keeping on youth health.