Abstract
Approximately 9% of adults report the symptoms of insomnia, and there are a number of adverse consequences of insomnia. This could be a public health concern. The current study seeks plausible longitudinal predictors of insomnia for prevention purposes. A community sample of 674 participants (53% African Americans and 47% Puerto Ricans; 60% were females) were recruited from the Harlem Longitudinal Development Study. We applied a growth mixture model to obtain the triple trajectories of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Logistic regression analyses were then conducted to examine the associations between the triple trajectory groups from mean age 14 to 36 and insomnia at age 36. The estimated prevalence of insomnia is 7.1%. A five-group triple trajectory model was selected: A) Increasing use of all three substances (18%); B) Moderate use of alcohol and marijuana, and high use of cigarette (11%); C) Moderate use of alcohol and cigarette, and experimental use of marijuana (3%); D) Moderate use of all three substances (5%); and E) No or low use of all three substances (63%). Among the five trajectory groups, the increasing use of all three substances group (AOR = 2.71, p-value = .011) was associated with an increased likelihood of having insomnia as compared to the no or low use of all three substances group. Treatment programs to quit or reduce the use of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana may help decrease the prevalence of insomnia. This could lead to improvements in individualized treatments for patients who have symptoms of insomnia and who also use substances.