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What does a good night's sleep mean? Nonlinear relations between sleep and children's cognitive functioning and

Mona El-Sheikh1, Lauren E Philbrook2, Ryan J Kelly3

  • 1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

Sleep
|April 5, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Optimal child development is linked to sleep duration and quality. Better sleep is associated with improved cognitive functioning, academic performance, and mental health, with race/ethnicity influencing these relationships.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Sleep Science
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Adequate sleep is crucial for children's cognitive, academic, and mental health development.
  • Previous research often assumes linear relationships between sleep and developmental outcomes.
  • Racial and ethnic disparities in children's sleep patterns warrant investigation as potential moderators.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the specific duration and quality of sleep associated with optimal child outcomes.
  • To examine nonlinear associations between sleep variables and developmental domains.
  • To assess race/ethnicity as a moderator of the relationship between sleep and child development.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized actigraphy and self-reports to assess sleep duration and quality in 282 children (mean age 9.4 years).
  • Evaluated cognitive functioning, academic performance, and mental health through child self-reports, parent/teacher reports, and academic data.
  • Analyzed nonlinear associations and moderated effects of race/ethnicity on sleep-development relationships.

Main Results:

  • Sleep duration showed an accelerating nonlinear negative association with externalizing behaviors.
  • Both objective (actigraphy) and subjective sleep quality demonstrated nonlinear associations with academic functioning and mental health.
  • Optimal child functioning was linked to the highest levels of sleep quality, with race/ethnicity moderating several observed associations.

Conclusions:

  • Sleep duration and quality are nonlinear predictors of multiple child developmental domains.
  • The benefits of increased sleep duration and quality do not plateau, highlighting the importance of nonlinear analyses.
  • Understanding nonlinear sleep-development relationships, considering individual differences like race/ethnicity, is essential for optimizing child outcomes.
Abstract

Keywords:
academic achievementactigraphychildrencognitive functioningmental healthsleep

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