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Published on: October 2, 2019
Poor Parental Sleep and the Reported Sleep Quality of Their Children
Hanni Rönnlund1, Marko Elovainio2, Irina Virtanen3
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Health Care Center of Kaarina, Kaarina, Finland;
Insights
Parental sleep issues can lead to parents overreporting their child's sleep problems. This highlights the need to consider parental sleep quality when diagnosing and treating pediatric sleep disorders.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Parental Health
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Pediatric sleep disturbances are often diagnosed using parental reports.
- The influence of parental sleep issues on these reports is not well understood.
- This study investigated the link between parental sleep quality and perceived child sleep quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if parental sleep problems affect how parents perceive and report their child's sleep quality.
- To explore the association between parental sleep disturbances and parent-reported pediatric sleep issues.
Main Methods:
- 100 children (2-6 years) underwent 1-week actigraphy.
- Parents completed sleep diaries, the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC), and the Jenkins' sleep scale for themselves.
- Linear regression analyzed the association between parental sleep scores and child sleep scores (total SDSC and subscales).
Main Results:
- Parental sleep problems were significantly associated with increased reporting of children's sleep problems.
- This association persisted even after controlling for objective child sleep measures (actigraphy) and parental mental health.
- Similar correlations were observed for specific sleep disturbance subscales.
Conclusions:
- Parental sleep quality is linked to the overreporting of sleep problems in children.
- These findings underscore the importance of assessing parental sleep in the evaluation and management of pediatric sleep disorders.
- Future research and clinical practice should account for parental sleep status.
Background:
Pediatric sleep disturbances are regularly diagnosed on the basis of parental reports. However, the impact of parental sleeping problems on parental perceptions and reports of their child's sleep has not yet been studied. We hypothesized that poor parental sleep decreases the parent-reported child sleep quality.
Methods:
A 1-week actigraph recording was performed in 100 children aged 2 to 6 years recruited in 16 day care centers. Their biological parents completed a sleep diary and a Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) on children's sleep. The parents also completed the Jenkins' sleep scale on their own sleep, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and questions on demographic factors. Linear regression analyses were performed to study the association of the parental Jenkins' score on their child's total SDSC score. Analyses were also performed for 3 of the subscales of the SDSC: disorders of excessive somnolence, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, and sleep-wake transition disorders.
Results:
Parental sleeping problems were associated with more frequent reporting of children's sleeping problems. This association was unexplained by the actigraph measures of children's sleep, such as actual 24-hour sleep time and sleep efficiency, parental mental health problems, or any other tested potential confounder or mediator. Similar correlations were seen for the 3 analyzed subscales.
Conclusions:
Parental sleep quality was associated with overreporting of sleep problems in their children. This finding emphasizes the importance of considering parental sleep quality in the diagnosis, treatment, and research of pediatric sleeping problems.
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