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Family Functioning and Children's Sleep
Mona El-Sheikh1, Ryan J Kelly2
1Auburn University.
Insights
Family dynamics significantly influence children's sleep patterns, impacting development. Further research is needed to understand these complex sleep-wake behaviors within the family context.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Sleep Science
- Family Studies
Background:
- Childhood sleep is crucial for socioemotional adjustment, physical health, and cognitive functioning.
- Family environments play a significant role in shaping children's sleep-wake behaviors.
- Research on children's sleep within a family context is an emerging and growing field.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the intricate connections between family functioning and children's sleep.
- To highlight the need for advanced conceptual frameworks and testing of transactional models.
- To encourage the use of validated objective and subjective measures in sleep research.
Main Methods:
- Review and synthesis of existing literature on family functioning and child sleep.
- Conceptual outlining of interconnections between family systems and sleep parameters.
- Call for the application of psychometrically sound measurement tools.
Main Results:
- Family functioning is a key determinant of children's sleep quality and duration.
- Transactional relationships likely exist between family dynamics and sleep patterns over time.
- Current research has limitations in scope regarding assessed family and sleep variables.
Conclusions:
- Understanding the interplay between family functioning and child sleep is vital for developmental outcomes.
- Future research should employ longitudinal, transactional models with robust measurement.
- Expanding the scope of assessed family and sleep variables will enhance scientific understanding.
Abstract:
Sleep is a pivotal correlate and predictor of many domains of child development, including socioemotional adjustment, physical health, and cognitive functioning. The family plays a major role in shaping children's sleep-wake behaviors, and developmental research on children's sleep in a family context is on the rise. As in any relatively young field, many gaps and questions remain. In this article, we aim to advance this literature by illustrating ways to examine the interconnections between family functioning and children's sleep. We also call for increasing conceptual developments and testing of transactional models, using well-established and psychometrically sound objective and subjective measures, and expanding both the family functioning domains and sleep parameters assessed.