London, April 9 (Inditop.com) Children who don’t sleep well at night are more likely to develop drug and alcohol problems as adults, a study says.

Children having difficulty sleeping between the ages of three and five were more likely to continue the pattern between 11 and 17. This in turn was linked to higher drug use between the ages of 18 and 21, reports express.co.uk.

Researcher Maria Wong of Idaho State University said: “Over tiredness and sleep trouble predicted the onset of alcohol, cigarette and illicit drug use by boys and the onset of alcohol use only among girls.”