What are the determinants of children's sleep behavior? A systematic review of longitudinal studies

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Sleep Medicine
• Behavioral Science
• Child Development

Background:

• Healthy sleep is crucial for child development and well-being.
• Understanding behavioral determinants is key to developing effective sleep interventions for children.
• Longitudinal evidence on factors influencing children's sleep behavior requires systematic review.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review longitudinal studies on the behavioral determinants of children's sleep behavior.
• To identify factors associated with sleep duration, quality, and timing in healthy children aged 4-12 years.
• To synthesize evidence for informing the development of evidence-based healthy sleep interventions.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases.
• Inclusion of longitudinal studies examining determinants of sleep duration, quality, and timing in healthy children (4-12 years).
• Methodological quality assessment and best-evidence synthesis following PRISMA guidelines.

Main Results:

• Strong evidence links child age to sleep duration.
• Moderate evidence indicates screen time, past sleep behavior, and difficult temperament affect sleep duration.
• Moderate evidence suggests weekend schedules influence sleep timing (later bedtimes/wake times).
• Evidence for determinants of sleep quality was insufficient or inconsistent.

Conclusions:

• Child age, screen time, past sleep behavior, and temperament are key determinants of children's sleep duration.
• Current evidence is limited for understanding determinants of sleep quality and timing.
• High-quality, extensive, collaborative, and multidisciplinary research is needed to fully elucidate sleep behavior determinants in children.