Sleep disorders

Early Sleep Problems Impact Childhood Psychosocial Functioning, Quality of Life

Sleep problems, whether present from birth or developed in childhood, are associated with poor outcomes by age 10 or 11 years, according to the results of a recent study.1

For their study, the researchers examined data from 6 waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children – Birth Cohort (n = 5107). Outcomes were evaluated using a combination of caregiver and teacher reports and child-completed assessments, and included emotional and behavioral functioning, health-related quality of life, cognitive skills, and academic achievement. 

Overall, 5 sleep problem trajectories were identified:

  • Persistent sleep problems through middle childhood (7.7%)
  • Limited infant/preschool sleep problems (9.0%)
  • Increased middle childhood sleep problems (17.0%)
  • Mild sleep problems over time (14.4%)
  • No sleep problems (51.9%)

The greatest impairments across all outcomes except for cognitive skills were observed in patients with persistent sleep problems. Those with middle childhood sleep problems also experienced more psychosocial symptoms and worse quality of life than those without sleep problems but had few academic impairments. Limited infant sleep problems and mild problems over time were both also associated with worse caregiver-reported quality of life and psychosocial problems, but the effects were less significant than in other trajectories.

The researchers noted, however, that for certain trajectories, the relationship between sleep issues and psychosocial issues could be bi-directional.

“The range of impairments across academic and psychosocial domains in middle childhood indicate that it is important to screen for sleep problems consistently over the course of a child’s development, especially to target children who experience persistent sleep problems over time,” the authors wrote in an accompanying press release.2

—Michael Potts

References:

  1. Williamson AA, Mindell JA, Hiscock H, Quach J. Longitudinal sleep problem trajectories are associated with multiple impairments in child well‐being. Published online July 26, 2020. JCPP. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13303
  2. Caregiver-reported child sleep problems associated with impaired academic and psychosocial functioning in middle childhood. News release. Philadelphia, PA: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; August 3, 2020. https://www.chop.edu/news/caregiver-reported-child-sleep-problems-associated-impaired-academic-and-psychosocial