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Cognition and objectively measured sleep duration in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Michelle A Short1, Sarah Blunden2, Gabrielle Rigney3

  • 1Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, Australia; School of Psychology, Flinders University, Australia.

Sleep Health
|May 20, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Longer sleep duration in children (5–13 years) is linked to better cognitive function, particularly full/verbal IQ. Most children in the studies had insufficient sleep, potentially masking the full impact of sleep restriction on cognition.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Children's sleep needs are guided by established recommendations.
  • Recent guideline adjustments by the National Sleep Foundation and American Academy of Sleep Medicine prompted this review.
  • Evidence linking objectively measured sleep duration and cognitive function in children (5–13 years) was systematically evaluated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and meta-analyze the relationship between objectively measured sleep duration and cognitive function in children aged 5 to 13 years.
  • To identify specific cognitive domains affected by sleep duration in this age group.
  • To compare the sleep durations in the studied samples with current sleep recommendations.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature search across 7 databases up to December 2016.
  • Inclusion criteria applied to 137 full articles, resulting in 23 meeting criteria.
  • 19 studies were included in the meta-analysis, assessing cognitive functions like memory, attention, processing speed, and intelligence.

Main Results:

  • A significant positive association (r = .06) was found between sleep duration and overall cognitive function.
  • Full/verbal IQ was significantly associated with sleep loss, while memory, fluid IQ, processing speed, and attention were not.
  • Most children in the analyzed studies had sleep durations below recommended ranges, potentially obscuring the true effects of sleep restriction.

Conclusions:

  • Longer sleep duration is associated with better cognitive functioning in children aged 5–13 years.
  • Sleep restriction in most study samples may have limited the ability to detect the full impact of insufficient sleep on cognitive performance.
  • Further research with rigorous experimental designs is necessary to clarify the sleep duration-cognition relationship in this population.
Abstract

Keywords:
ActigraphyAttentionCognitionIntelligenceMemorySleep durationSleep recommendations

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